Arc's Metalworks
by Dyde21
Summary: Pyrrha Nikos busted her weapon in a fight, and fixing the intricate parts requires a weaponsmith with her busy schedule. Hearing about a new place, she decides to go check it out, there she meets a new boy who is the breath of fresh air she was waiting for. Mechanic!Jaune AU Set around season 1
1. The Meeting

Pyrrha Nikos sighed as she stood on the corner of the street, staring at her scroll, doing her best to figure out where the heck she was going. She knew Vale pretty well, but she hadn't heard of this shop before, and it wasn't on one of the main streets so it was a bit difficult to navigate to.

She was honestly a bit annoyed to have to make the trip at all. During her last fight, her opponent had frozen her weapon solid, freezing all the gears and parts in it. While she was still able to fight with it, the tough battle had resulted in some of the internal gears and springs being crushed or warped beyond repair. The boy had apologized profusely afterward, insisting on paying for the repairs, but she refused him. Pyrrha didn't blame him after all, it was an accident. The match had been very close, and they were both vying for victory, and it was only due to the hard fought battle that any damage had been sustained at all.

In Pyrrha's mind, a difficult battle was well worth the mild inconvenience of getting her weapon tuned up. Besides, it was about time for a tuning and polish anyway. Pyrrha took care of most of her own weapon's maintenance, but she lacked a certain finesse when it came to metal work that she found a professional could almost always do better.

The problem was, since she was now a student at beacon, her usual shop was so far away back at her home and sending her weapon away for repairs would be far too inconvenient. She was going to let the school handle the repairs, but the boy, Tyler, and his girlfriend had insisted that this local shop was far better and that she would get a discount if she mentioned their names and explained. Evidently it wasn't the first time his powers had caused a problem with fine machinery.

Adjusting her her hat, she moved her her braid over her shoulder. Due to being a champion, and being on the box of Pumpkin Pete's, she had a habit of being recognized so she was in disguise at this moment. While she was normally more than happy to greet her fans, the last thing she needed was to be held up while looking for some obscure shop in the middle of downtown vale. After heading down a few streets, and a few turns she thought was correct, she decided to give up. She had no idea where this shop was so she stopped the nicest looking person she saw on the street.

"Excuse me, do you happen to know where this mechanic shop is?" She asked, tugging her hat down a bit.

The man stopped and looked at her scroll, seeing the logo, before grinning. "Ah! Yes. Go down three streets, take a left, then a right and you'll see the shop. Can't miss it. Great choice there ma'am. Best mechanic in Vale, they'll take good care of you. Though, I'd wait for the dad to be in the shop. The son can be a bit, off." He said, offering a smile and a wave before heading off on his way.

Pyrrha thanked him, before following his directions. She felt awfully lucky that the one person she happened to stop knew the shop. Why the remark about the son though? A few minutes later though, she began to feel a little tricked. She hadn't seen the shop anywhere. Maybe the man was lying to her? With a sigh, she chose to stop another person, once again asking for help.

"Excuse me, I was told this shop was around here. Do you happen to know where it is?" Pyrrha asked again.

The woman stopped to look at her scroll, before beaming. "Ah! That shop. Yes, it is right around here actually. I'm surprised you missed it. It's back down that street, and go down the little alley half way down. It's right there."

Pyrrha thanked her, and was about to leave when the woman reached out, grabbing her arm gently.

"Oh, and just a friendly tip. It's a great place, but make sure to get the father to look at your weapon. The son is a little, new, to the game." She explained carefully, before smiling and moving on her way.

Pyrrha frowned. Two warnings now. Following the directions, she moved down the alley she had missed on her first pass down the street. Staring at the shop that had the sigh "Arc's Metalwork." she was a little taken aback. It was a rather small store, with just a single glass window peaking in it, down a side alley. Hardly "Hard to miss."

Shrugging, she took a deep breath and entered the shop. She had a feeling the owners there would recognize her and just hoped that she wasn't over charged or that she'd find herself unwillingly "sponsoring" the shop in the local news by being used as advertisement without her permission, as had happened before.

Stepping into the shop she immediately felt her worries and concerns melt away. The shop was small, and there was a soft fire going in a fire place to the right of the counter. The smell of a fresh baked pie drifted through the store as a sofa and couple of chairs served as a wait area near the fireplace. It felt like home, and Pyrrha felt a pang of homesickness from the atmosphere there.

The most concerning thing was perhaps the lack of attendant there. The main desk was abandoned with a little bell near the register. Pyrrha stepped up to the counter, ringing the bell after a moment. "Hello?" She called gently. She leaned on the counter, looking left and right to see if anyone was in the shop, when her arm knocked the bell off onto the floor behind the counter.

She stepped back as she heard a cacophonous roar of metal, what sounded like pots and pans, crashing onto the floor, a panicked yelp and a hasty. "One minute!" coming from somewhere in the back. The sounds of metal pans being sliding out of the way from being kicked on the floor, heavy footsteps announced the arrival of someone.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, wondering who could deserve such a... dramatic heralding when a boy turned the corner, holding a steaming pie in a tin with his bare hands. Judging by the wincing on his face and the faint sizzle coming from the tin, he was in a lot of pain.

"Ow! Hot. Stupid... Pie..." He struggled as he moved to the counter, failing to notice the bell Pyrrha had accidentally knocked off as his foot stepped on it and slid out from underneath him, causing him to throw the pie and fall to the floor.

Pyrrha's eyes widened, her hand flying up as she used her polarity semblance to to make the metal tin float. "I'm sorry! Are you okay Mister?" She asked worriedly, watching him stand up.

The boy stood up, quickly moving a metal grate over near Pyrrha so she could set down the pie. "I'm fine! I'm so sorry to scare you like that. Thanks for catching the pie, I must have tripped on something." He offered.

Pyrrha shook her head, removing her hat, smiling apologetically. "I believe I accidentally knocked the bell of when looking for the cashier. I should have warned you, I'm sorry!" She said. She watched as a tint of red graced the cheeks of the boy, she finally got a good look at. The tall, blond, rather slim boy stood there, gently blowing on his hands wearing a "Date the cook." apron over his jeans and sweatshirt.

The boy smiled, wiping his hands off on the apron and offering his hand. "It's okay! I fall down a lot, so I'm used to it. Thank you for saving the pie though, my mom told me to take it out when it was done, and she makes the best ones. It'd be a real waste to have it all over the floor again. Anyway, I'm Jaune Arc, and welcome to Arc's Metalworks!" He said with a smile.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at "again." She had to admit the pie did smell amazing, so it would have been a shame. She took his hand, pausing for a moment. For some reason, she didn't feel the need to attempt to hide her name. Then again, her weapons and her semblance would be enough of a hint for an average person. "Pyrrha Nikos." As she shook his hands, she noticed them. Worn, a bit scarred, and firm. The hands of someone who worked hard with them.

Jaune just smiled. "Nice to meet you! So what can I do for you?" He asked curiously.

Pyrrha removed her weapon from her back. "Well it's my weapon you see. During my last battle it got damage, and a lot of the small parts have been warped or broken. I was recommended here by Tyler and Ashe, they said this shop is great for weapon repairs. I was hoping to get my weapon repaired and both it and my shield polished.

Jaune's eyes lit up at Tyler's name. "Ah! Let me guess, he froze your weapon in a battle and all the blunt trauma broke it. Again. It's amazing how many times that has happened. I swear he causes half our business." He said with a laugh.

Pyrrha merely smiled, and nodded.

Jaune thought for a moment. "Well no problem. Actually, my dad..." He paused. Thinking for a moment he turned and ran to the back of the shop, leaving Pyrrha standing there curiously. "Um..."

"One moment!" Jaune called out as she heard him scramble through some cabinets. Water was running and he returned a moment later with two plates, two forks, a knife, two glasses and a pitcher of milk.

He quickly dished up two servings of pie, offering one to Pyrrha. "Here, it's apple. I have to call and ask about a quick question before I can promise you anything, but you should try this pie. It's delicious."

Pyrrha took the plate, her stomach greedily growling in desire as she smelled it. Still, just accepting food from somewhere she just went for the first time made her a little uneasy. Jaune was already calling on his scroll though, when he looked over and saw her hesitating.

"Sorry. It's good, trust me!" He said, taking his clean fork and scooping off a tiny bit at the end of her slice, quickly eating it before taking a sip of milk he had poured for himself. "See? Safe!" He said, flashing her a warm smile before taking another sip when he heard his dad's voice. In a panic he spit out some of the milk. "Dad! A customer came in and-"

Pyrrha just gently laughed at the boy's antics, this shop seemed as lively as her friends. Taking a hesitant bite, she felt her mouth explode in joy. It was amazing, he wasn't lying.

She took a seat in one of the arm chairs near the fire as she quietly ate her slice of pie and sipped her milk, doing her best not to eavesdrop on the conversation Jaune seemed to be having with his dad in the backroom. She closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling the warm fire just melt the stress off her body. She liked it here, she could see why the locals loved it here. She was a bit concerned about why they told her to avoid him though. Though, clearly he was a bit clumsy. Maybe having him around dust and high powered weaponry wasn't the safest place for him.

A few moments later Jaune cleared his throat standing next to her, making her jump a bit. She stood up quickly, brushing away some crumbs. "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

Jaune just smiled, stepping back behind the counter. "No worries. Well we would love to help, but I'm afraid my dad will be out of town until next week." He said, looking crestfallen.

Pyrrha frowned. "Oh I see. Is he the only one who repairs weapons here?" Pyrrha asked. She watched Jaune open his mouth, before sighing. "Uh... yeah. He does most of the repairs here."

Pyrrha furrowed her brow. Why was he acting so different from before? "Well, that's no good. I don't think I can wait a week for the repairs to start. Not with classes and everything." She explained. "It's getting late too, I doubt another shop will be open by the time I find it." She said, mostly to herself.

Jaune stared at the ground, his hands clenched at his side.

Pyrrha turned to face him, smiling warmly. "Thank you very much for the pie Jaune! It was very delicious, tell your mom she is a great chef. I'm sorry the timing was bad." She said, picking up her sword and shield again. Part of her really didn't want to leave this place. She had a feeling if she did, she might not see him again. Which for some reason, made her sad. She turned around to leave, taking a step when she felt someone grab her wrist.

"Wait!" Jaune said, holding her wrist as he stared at her desperately. "I'll do it!"

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "What?" She asked, shocked by his sudden outburst, glancing down at his hand and blushing slightly.

Jaune's eyes widened as he stepped back, raising his hands in surprise. "Sorry! I didn't mean to grab you, I just panicked. I meant, I'll repair your weapon."

Pyrrha stared at him, confused. "But I thought you said your dad was the only one who worked here."

Jaune stared past her, looking out the window. "I work here too." He said, though Pyrrha had a feeling he wasn't just talking to her.

Jaune stared at her, a look of determination in his eyes. "I've been in a shop since I was a kid. I've seen my dad work on every project, and I've helped him for years before he moved here. I've repaired stuff on my own before. Though they are usually small projects..." He hesitated. "But I can do it! I can have your stuff repaired and polished in no time."

Pyrrha looked him in the eyes, seeing a burning determination in them, a look she often saw in the eyes of her opponents in the finals of a tournament. Someone not willing to give up. Someone determined to do what is needed. She felt a warmth in her chest, until she saw his eyes change.

The fire in them dimmed a bit as he looked down. "I'm sorry. You came here for a professional, not a student. I shouldn't stick my nose where it doesn't belong."

Pyrrha saw Jaune looking like a kicked puppy, and felt the warmth in her chest turn into a coal of anger. Why would someone with such determination also seem so defeated. It pained her to see the look of defeat in his eyes after a glimpse at his determination, and it reminded her of all her years of struggle to climb the ranks.

"Okay." She said firmly.

Jaune was rubbing the back of his neck when he looked up. "What?"

Pyrrha smiled, handing him her sword and shield. "I said okay. I'll leave them to you."

Jaune held them, looking shocked. "I. Uh..."

Pyrrha just smirked. "You said you've repaired stuff on your own before right? You said you can do it, and it'd be fixed in no time. That sounds lovely." She offered in a bit of a challenging tone.

Jaune stared at her, not finding the usual hint of malice in the challenge, but rather a playful competitiveness. She was giving him a chance.

He quickly moved her stuff to the counter as he inspected it, sizing it up for an estimate.

Pyrrha watched him carefully as he looked over her weapon. His hands were careful and his eyes were sharp. He was figuring out the specifics very quickly. He obviously knew what he was doing, and the focus was not the same as the goof who tripped burning his hands on a pie tin. Her instinct wasn't wrong about him. She knew he could do it.

A moment later Jaune slid her a work form, showing her the expected cost for time and labor. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

"Is that too much?" Jaune asked worriedly.

Pyrrha shook her head smiling. "Cheaper than I thought actually."

Jaune smiled. "Well this is Arc's Metalworks. There are no finer weaponsmiths and we stake our pride on every job. We're here to support every hunter and huntress with fine, affordable service." He said, a little rehearsed.

Pyrrha smirked. "Is that so? May I have a pen and paper?" She asked as Jaune handed her one with a confused look. Was she going to barter?

Pyrrha slid the paper and pen back after scribbling something down. "Here, there's my number so you can contact me when it's done."

Jaune nodded, carefully storing the number near the register to not lose it.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. It was her professional number that was safe to give out, but usually people tended to over react when they got it, or give it out. Jaune didn't seem interested in it at all more than a client's number. Maybe he didn't know who she was?

Jaune gave her a copy of the receipt as she paid half upfront, as she saw before on the form.

"Satisfaction guaranteed, or we promise you your money back. An Arc never goes back on his word."

Pyrrha nodded. "I'm looking forward to it." Her eyes drifted to the pie which was still smelling as amazing as ever.

Jaune followed her gaze and smiled. "Here, one second." He said, disappearing to the back before returning with a small cardboard box. He quickly put a slice in the small box, before handing it to her. "Here. One for the road." Pyrrha's eyes lit up as she took it. "Thank you!"

"It's getting a little late. Will you be fine getting back without any weapons?" Jaune asked, a little worried.

Pyrrha just smiled, it was cute he was worried. "I'll be fine. The rest of my team is out shopping anyway, so I'll meet up with them before I head back. Don't worry."

Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "That's good then. Well I'll let you know when the repair is done..." He paused, leaning over to see the name on the number she gave him. "Pyrrha Nikos. Wait. The Pyrrha Nikos?"

Pyrrha froze, putting her hat back on. This trip had been lovely, he wasn't going to ruin it was he? "Yes, that's me."

Jaune froze. He stared at her in awe for a moment. "Your last fight was amazing! You were so cool. I... uh. Good job." He ended a bit awkwardly, realizing he was about to ramble.

"Thank you." Pyrrha said with a soft smile. He seemed to be a little starstruck, but didn't seem to want more money or advertisement.

"Are you sure you want to trust me with your weapon?" He asked a bit nervously, staring down at it, finally realizing why it seemed familiar.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "You said you'd do it. I thought an Arc never goes back on his word?" She challenged.

Jaune stared at her, slowly getting that fire back in his eye as he smirked. "That's right! Leave it to me."

Pyrrha smirked, glad to see that warm fire in his eye. That was why she trusted him. That was why she knew her weapon was in good hands." She left the shopping after waving to him one last time. "I'll leave it to you!" She said, walking out into the street, pulling out her scroll to tell the rest of her team she was done.

 _Jaune Arc, huh?_ She thought to herself.


	2. The Pick up

Pyrrha was currently doodling in the corner of her page, trying to get the curves on the logo of the Arc's Metalworks sign she sketching looking clean. Professor port was recounting one of the adventures he went on while he was young. While she had to admit it was a little interesting, despite all the "enhanced" details, she was pretty it wouldn't end up on the test so her mind was wandering. It was only the next day, so she wasn't expecting a call that day from Jaune about her weapon, but not being able to train properly was a little boring. Cardio and weight lifting wasn't settling her nerves about having her weapon be unavailable.

Glancing over at her teammates, she saw pretty much what she expected. Ren was patiently taking notes, and reading ahead in their textbook, while Nora was sleeping next to him. Her own partner Jane was doing her best to take notes, clearly expecting a test on this story. Pyrrha smiled softly, and was about to lean over to let her know that it wasn't necessary when her scroll buzzed suddenly. Pyrrha jumped out of surprise, banging her knee on the desk making the class turn around to look at her.

She blushed, apologizing and saying she sneezed. Professor port just stared at her for a moment, before shrugging and continuing on with his story.

Who would be texting her? All of her friends were either in class or knew she would be in class so they wouldn't message her, not that she got too many to begin with. She quickly put her scroll on silent before checking the message stealthily under her desk.

 _Jaune Arc_

Her eyes widened a bit. Why was he messaging her? She had given him her public number so she must have forgotten to change the settings for that number to be on silent in class since it was rarely messaged after she last changed it right before attending beacon.

 _Your weapon and shield are done. Please feel free to stop by at your earliest convenience. :)_

She was a little shocked. Already done? Her weapons may not have been as complicated as some others, but that was a fast turn around rate. Practically 24 hours. Maybe they just weren't busy? She had to admit she was beginning to have some doubts. Before she could reply another message popped up.

 _Wait. You are in class aren't you? I'm sorry! I should have waited._

 _Wait, that was another message. I'm sorry again!_

 _Agh! I keep sending them._

 _COME OVER WHEN YOU ARE FREE!_

Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her giggles at his obvious rise in frustration as he sent the messages. Jane gave her a weird look but she waved it off, turning back to listen to Port, a small smile still on her face.

XxXxXxXxX

After her classes were all over, Pyrrha found herself making the trek to Arc's Metalworks for the second day in a row. She still remembered where it was, so she was allowed to enjoy the walk much more this time. As she approached the door to the shop, she once again was greeted by the smell of a freshly baked pie.

Entering the shop, she took a deep breath, inhaling the scent with glee. She hoped she would be lucky enough to have another slice if he was willing. She had to finish it before she made it back to the dorm last time, knowing Nora would have been all over it otherwise.

She expected to see the pie sitting on the counter near the register, but what she hadn't expected was to see Jaune laying face down over the table next to it. She flew forward, pulling her scroll out immediately to call for either an ambulance or back up, depending on what state he was in. Finding him slowly breathing, she almost dropped to her knees out of relief as the adrenaline flooded and left her body in such a short period of time. He was just sleeping. Why had he passed out over the table though?

"Jaune?" She asked softly, poking his shoulder gently.

Jaune stirred in place, pawing her hand away before settling in again.

She just bit her lip, finding his sleeping form surprisingly cute. She gently nudged his shoulder again. "Jaune. Wake up." She said a little louder, figuring the shop-keep shouldn't be asleep in an open shop.

Jaune woke up with a yawn, stretching out as he stood up, staring ahead still half asleep. His eyes widened as he realized where he was, and who was standing in front of him with an amused smirk. "P-P-Pyrrha!" he exclaimed backing up.

"Hello again." She offered, snickering softly at his bed head.

Jaune quickly straightened out his jacket and fixed his hair. "Sorry, I must have dozed off."

"I'll say." Pyrrha offered. "You texted me earlier?"

Jaune's eyes lit up. "Right! You're weapon and shield. Of course." He said as he scrambled to the back of the store, tripping over a piece of scrap metal on the ground as he went somewhere behind the wall.

"Your weapon is very impressive" he called to her. "Seems very balanced and very versatile." He said, his voice growing louder as he walked back to her. Handing her them both lightly wrapped in cloth, he smiled. "At least. I imagine, I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to fighting." He said with a nervous laugh.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow as she mulled over that comment while unwrapped her weapon and shield from their protective covering. She pulled out the shield first and subconsciously released a little "oooo" as she saw the polish. It practically worked as a mirror as she saw her own impressed face reflecting in the metal. "Very good job." She offered, noticing a lot of superficial scratches had been buffed away and it seemed in top condition.

Jaune just smiled. "You take very good care of it. My job was very easy, your weapon has clearly been shown plenty of love."

"Your weapons are your partner. Treat them well and they will treat you well in return." She explained, unwrapping her sword. She could practically see Jaune tense up as she held it. Hiding her own concerns, she began to test it.

"The balance seems right." She said, as she swung it a few times. "Let's see..." She switched it to it's Javelin form. "Smooth transition. Proper Javelin form." She said appreciatively. She spun it around a few times in place. "Still balanced." She said with a smile.

Jaune's eyes widened. "Wait!" He ran to the back before coming back with a large target. He placed in a wall in the back of the shop. "Feel free to take a few test shots if you'd like. It happens pretty often so it won't freak people out around here." He offered, stepping well out of the way.

Pyrrha nodded, appreciating the thought. She switched her spear into it's rifle form. "Smooth transition again, balanced, proper trigger weight." She praised. Taking aim she fired a few rounds into the center of the target. She fired one last round before spinning it in her hand and transforming it into it's javelin form and launching it into the center of of the target.

She turned to Jaune as he stood there, a look of awe on his face. "Jaune?"

Jaune just stared at her for a moment, before looking at the target and shaking his head. "Oh! I'm sorry. It's just... very cool to an actual huntress, let alone Pyrrha Nikos fighting in real life. It's always been a dream of mine." He said while walking over and retrieving her spear with some effort and handing it back to her.

Pyrrha cocked her head slightly. "Your dream was to meet me?" She asked as she transformed it back to it's sword form to store it.

Jaune shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I've always liked watching you fight when they air the tournaments, but I've always dreamed about being a hunter." He said staring up at the ceiling, a look of somber resignation non his face. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh before looking back at her smiling. "So was the repairs to your liking?" He asked, obviously a little nervous.

Pyrrha smiled. "It was perfect! Thank you very much. It feels as good as new." She praised, stifling a giggle as she saw him perk up like a puppy at the praise. "Though I must admit I'm surprised you could do such a good job in such a small amount of time."

Jaune's eyes widened. "I assure you the repairs are solid! I spent all of last night working on it. Of course I triple checked everything I did to make sure I didn't make any mistakes while tired. But your weapon was very well designed, the repairs were natural to make. I'm just glad we had the parts in stock."

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "Wait, do you mean you didn't sleep at all last night?" She asked, piecing together why he would have been passed out when she walked in.

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "Well yeah, I was too excited to have a project to work on. Since we had the parts it was just a natural flow to keep working."

"Jaune..." She mumbled. They weren't particularly close, so she couldn't scold him like she might a friend, but the fact he put himself out so much didn't sit well with her.

"Besides, you're a student. You have classes that you need it for. It wouldn't be good for you to be without a weapon for too long."

Pyrrha was caught off guard. So it wasn't even due to her name or popularity? "That's very considerate." Was all she could say at the moment. She finished paying, still lost in thought. "I appreciate that you worked so hard on my weapon, and for my sake. It was a very well done job." She said, tipping him. "But you don't need to put yourself out so much for my sake. Next time I drop my weapon off here, you can take a day or two. Sleep is important for a healthy mind and body."

Jaune smiled nervously. "I understand." His eyes widened after a moment. "Next time?"

Pyrrha beamed. "Of course. This store has excellent staff and wonderful service. Why wouldn't I return?" She asked, a playful glint in her eye.

Jaune just stared at her in shock before grinning. He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you for your patronage." He said, looking at the table, before seeing the pie. "Well. Since you're one of our loyal customers, perhaps you'd like another slice of pie." He offered, surprised to see Pyrrha already standing next to it, her eyes staring at it like a kid in a candy store. "I'll take that as a yes."

Pyrrha nodded eagerly as she bounced slightly, watching him cut a slice for her. "It smells amazing again."

Jaune smiled. "Thanks. Here." He said offering her the slice.

Pyrrha took a bite after thanking him. She sighed in appreciation as she moved over to one of the armchairs near the fireplace. "This is so good. Maybe even better than before."

Jaune smiled. "Thank you."

Pyrrha just hummed happily, before raising an eyebrow. "Thank you? Jaune, did you make this?" She asked incredulous.

Jaune just smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad you like it."

Pyrrha leaned forward. "I thought you said your mom made it."

He shrugged. "She made the last one. I knew you liked it, so I thought I'd make one for when you came to pick up your weapon."

Pyrrha blushed slightly. "Well that was very thoughtful of you. You are a very good baker."

Jaune smiled. "Thank you. Growing up with 7 sisters means you tend to pick up skills like this, plus most of them love sweets and the best way to get them to do what you want is by bribing them so it made sense."

Pyrrha just laughed. "That makes a lot of sense. These are certainly good enough to be used as leverage. I'll have to bring my friends to try it sometime." She said mostly to herself. "Ah! That is if you happen to have made one. I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

Jaune smiled. "Of course! I'd love to. Just let me know ahead of time so I can have a few prepared."

Pyrrha smiled. "Sounds perfect. Here, may I see your scroll for a moment?" She asked.

Jaune shrugged and handed her his scroll, watching curiously as she typed something.

"There. That's my personal number, so you can contact me whenever you have them ready."

Jaune blushed slightly, and quickly typed something on his own scroll. Pyrrha's own scroll buzzed with a message from Jaune. "This is my personal number as well. :)".

Pyrrha smiled and took a few more bites of her pie happily. They both ate, staring at the fire, a little lost in thought.

"You said you want to be a hunter?" She asked suddenly.

Jaune jumped a little, almost having forgotten that she was still there. "Uh yeah. Many of the men in my family going back were great hunters. A few of my sisters work as huntresses right now actually. I've always thought they were all so cool."

"Why did you become one then?" Pyrrha asked, feeling a little selfish as she pried just a teeny bit further.

Jaune sighed. "My dad wanted me to work in the shop with him. Said it was safer. Plus, the opportunity for me to attend an academy never came up. And... I'm not very talented like my sisters. I couldn't get into Beacon even if I tried." He said, pushing around a bit of pie with his fork on his plate.

Pyrrha just stared at him, seeing easily how bad he wanted to be one. But his life seemed to be steering away from it.

As she took another bite, she had to reflect back on her own life. For as long as she could remember she had the opportunity to become like a huntress like she wanted, and the talent to support her dream and take her the places she wanted to go with hard work. She felt a renewed sense of gratefulness in the blessings she was given. But she also felt frustrated that Jaune seemed to want it as bad as she did, but was being forced down a different path. Looking up, she noticed Jaune was looking back at her.

"Well, I'm not sure it's my place. But I would say that you shouldn't give up on your dreams. I believe that I have been very lucky, but I also believe with enough hard work people can grow closer to their dreams. I certainly believe you can do whatever you set your mind to." She offered with a warm smile.

Jaune stared at her for a moment, and Pyrrha swore she could see the hints of tears building up in the corner of his eyes. He took a deep breath before smiling. "Thanks, Pyrrha. I won't give up, who knows what will happen in the future."

Pyrrha smiled, having finished her pie. "Well I should get back soon." She said a bit unwillingly. She was enjoying her time here for sure, but she had training and homework to do. She stood up, grabbing her weapons.

Jaune stood up to. "Ah, of course. Sorry for being so personal." He said a little sheepishly. "You're just a very good listener and easy to talk to."

Pyrrha smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. I asked after all. And I meant what I said, I can see you being a good hunter some day." Pyrrha couldn't admit it, but she was incredibly grateful for Jaune. She this was only her second timing meeting with him, but he truly treated her like she was just another person, and could talk to her naturally. Something so few people seemed wiling to do with her because of her name and status. She knew she had to see him again, she'd have to find an excuse. She turned around to offer a goodbye when she saw Jaune standing there with his hand outstretched.

"Thanks, Pyrrha."

"My pleasure, Jaune."

As she was about to leave she saw him holding out another cardboard box. "One for the road?" He offered.

Pyrrha just smiled giddily. "I'll never say no to that." She said, taking the box and leaving the warm store with a thanks and a wave, already looking forward to the next time she could say "Hello."

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for the delay between chapters, life got a bit busy. I hope to have chapter three up by the end of the weekend. I am cross posting this story to my tumblr, under the same name, as well in case you would like to see updates there. I also answers questions on there as well. Thank you all for your encouraging reviews, I appreciate them and I hope I can live up to your expectations. To the person who asked if Jaune was a robot, he is not. If you were confused by the phrase "Fire in his eyes" that is a figure of speech meaning a certain look in their eyes rather than literally. I hope that can clarify any confusion you had.


	3. The Tussel

Pyrrha was currently wandering through the downtown streets of vale, yet again. However this time she wasn't alone. She had shot Jaune a message while they were returning from their group mission team RWBY and team JNPR had been sent on to a nearby forest for some practical experience. Blake's weapon had been lightly damaged after a battle against two death stalkers took a toll on the pair of teams.

Blake originally planned on just dealing with her weapon on her own, but Pyrrha convinced her that Jaune was very talented and that her weapon could use a professional touch. Blake was a bit hesitant, but Pyrrha assured her it was a good idea. When she mentioned mouth watering pie Ruby and Nora had decided that both teams will be visiting the shop. Yang was aware of Pyrrha's motives, but she wasn't going to object to free pie.

Luckily Jaune had said that he had plenty of time to make the pies today so they would be ready by the time they could get back to Vale.

"Is he really trust worthy with weapons?" Blake asked a bit hesitantly.

Pyrrha smiled. "My weapons have felt like new since I got them back. He's a bit odd, but he does good work. I trust him one hundred percent."

"I bet you do." Yang mumbled with a grin as she walked behind the group with her arms behind her head.

At the muffled sound of gunshots, team RWBY and the rest of JNPR jumped. "Guns shots?" Weiss said nervously.

Pyrrha smiled. "It's fine. It sounded like it came from Jaune's shop and they have to test the firearms they repair there."

The rest of the group settled down a bit, until Yang stopped suddenly. "I wouldn't be so sure." She offered as she switched her Ember Celica into their ready position.

"Yang?" Pyrrha asked, getting nervous.

"You see those two dudes over there? Black suits and red ties with the glasses? They happen to work for a friend of mine, and they are not good people. If Jaune's shop is anywhere around here, then he's in trouble." She said, before whispering something to Blake and moving to a nearby tree in the sidewalk. Lacing her hands together she launched Blake up into the tree. "Don't get stuck up there, I don't want to have to call the fire department." Yang offered, ducking as Blake swung around the branch, her feet going dangerously close to Yang's head before she launched herself up and onto the roof. "Kidding!" She called up to her.

Pyrrha had already readied her weapon and shield, a dangerous vibe coming from her.

Yang's eyes widened. "Just relax a bit. I'll take care of this." She offered, hoping to spare the two grunts their lives based off Pyrrha's expression.

Yang walked over. "Hello~!" She sang as she walked up.

"What do you want?" One of the two men asked her, his hand reaching towards something on his waist.

"We just wanted to pass by into that little shop back there." She said.

Both of them men glared. "Not today. Beat it kid."

Yang cracked her knuckles as her eyes turned red. "Oh, looking to rumble?"

They laughed. "We're in public kid. Unless you want to get kicked out your school, I'd avoid starting a fight with innocent bystanders."

Yang just shrugged. "Be that way, though I'm not the one you should be concerned about."

They both looked to each other confused, before they felt pressure on the back of their heads as they were forced together, Blake standing behind them with a smirk. "Are all your friends this dangerous?"

Yang shrugged. "Only the fun ones." She offered as she helped Blake drag the unconscious guards further back into the alley to avoid suspicion.

Pyrrha had the rest of her team wait behind her as she creeping up slowly to the window.

There was another gun shot, but this time it was followed by a male scream of pain. Pyrrha's eyes widened in terror as she moved forward, planting her foot on the door and kicking it open, surprising everyone in the shop. Jaune was holding his arm, which was dripping with blood, while one thug had him by the hair with a gun to his head, and another one stood nearby, his gun also drawn. They had an open case on the table.

"So you called for back up huh? Not your smartest move." The thug holding Jaune scolded, as he shoved his hand down, cracking Jaune's head into the counter, before raising him up again. "You just dragged more people into this."

Pyrrha was practically shaking with rage. When she saw Jaune look at her, blood dripping from his forehead as he mouthed one word. _Run._

Pyrrha felt her chest tighten. He was worried for her?

Jaune's eyes shot to the right, and Pyrrha noticed another goon was in the corner of the shop, a gun trained on her in the doorway.

"Pyrrha, Guns" Ruby said suddenly from behind her. "On your right!" She called out.

Pyrrha knew her plan instantly as she stepped in the shop, clearing the doorway as she raised her hand, ripping the guns out of the three goon's grip and floating them to the ceiling as she tossed her shield, bouncing it off the counter and nailing the goon in the corner in the head, knocking him out solid.

Ruby had dashed forward in flurry of petals, reappearing with both her feet planted on the goon holding Jaune, kicking him and sending him crashing into the back of the shop.

"You little!" The last goon threw a punch towards Ruby from behind but Jaune had dashed forward, wrapping his arms around the goon as he tackled him to the ground.

Jaune tried to get up but his opponent was faster, and with a solid blow from above, Jaune's head smashed into the floor, and his body went still.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha practically screamed as she dashed forward.

Yang was glad Pyrrha didn't have her semblance, because the last thing the weapon forge needed was someone with that much anger having an explosive semblance.

Kneeling heavily on Jaune, the man pulled a knife from his belt, still looking at Jaune when Pyrrha grabbed his wrist. A sharp pull and a twist, followed by a sickening crack, meant the knife clattered to the ground as Pyrrha released his limp arm, kicking him down.

Jane walked up, gently putting a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, offering her a calming smile.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, calming down as she moved to Jaune's side.

The goon with the broken arm tried to stand up, only to see a great-sword pierce the ground, inches from his head, as he looked up to see Jane staring down at him, a muted anger in her. "No." Was all she said.

Ren walked up, putting away his scroll. "The cops will be here in a few minutes." He offered as he began to drag the goon in the corner outside with the other two.

The goon Ruby had launched appeared from the back of the store, carrying a massive sword he must have found back there. "Don't push your luck ki-" He was cut off as Nora's fist connected to his stomach, knocking him out cold. She hefted him over her should with a giggle. "Losers should know when they're beat." Moving to deposit him with the other ones. Jane finished moving the injured one to the rest as Weiss walked up. Spinning Myrtenaster, she slammed her rapier into the ground as ice erupted from it, the spikes forming a makeshift cage for the thugs trapped inside.

Inside, Pyrrha had managed to get Jaune into one of the chairs near the fire, and was currently wiping away the blood from his forehead with a rag Ren had found and soaked in water. "Jaune, are you okay? Wake up Jaune." She coaxed, trying to make sure he was fine. He just laid in the chair limp and unresponsive.

Pyrrha's fist clenched tightly at her side. What was it about this boy that cursed him with awful luck? He didn't deserve this, not at all.

Ruby sat nervously across from them, hoping Jaune would get better soon as Yang stood behind her, leaning on the back of the chair with her head resting on Ruby's, concerned as well. Ren and Blake were busy cleaning up the shop the best they could from the battle, while Weiss and Jane waited by the streets to talk to the cops and explain the situation, and Nora stood on guard by the thugs, poking at them.

After a few minutes, Jaune had groaned, and shifted slightly.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called again, gently shaking his good arm that wasn't bandaged.

Jaune woke up with another groan, moving to hold his head before wincing. "W-W... what?"

Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God. You're okay."

"Pyrrha?" He asked weakly, wincing as his head exploded into pain.

"Hello again. The shop was robbed, and you were roughed up. Do you remember what happened?" She asked, hoping his memory was fine after to hard blows to the head like that."

Jaune thought for a moment. "Yeah. I remember. They demanded all the money and dust crystals. I-I tried to tell them I didn't have access to the vault, only my dad did but they didn't listen. He was delayed and wont be back for another week. Then you showed up." He paused for a moment, before looking at her. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

 _Worrying about me again?_ She thought to herself, a bit taken aback. "I'm fine. We're trained for stuff like this. How do you feel?"

Jaune took a sigh of relief. "As long as you guys are okay I'm fine. Though my head hurts, and my arm feels like it's burning."

Pyrrha smiled softly. "You took two hard blows to your head. And you were shot in the arm, but the bullet passed through. We bandaged it, but you should get it looked at."

Jaune nodded. "I will, thank you." He thought for a moment. "Thanks... pie! Pie!" He repeated.

Ruby perked up at the moment, and Nora peaked her head in the doorway.

Jaune started to stand up, before gasping in pain and collapsing back in the chair.

"Don't try to move too quickly!" Pyrrha scolded, gently keeping him in the chair.

Jaune nodded weakly. "Good idea." He looked up at the two girls across from him, a little confused.

"Oh! I'm Ruby. This is my big sis Yang." Ruby offered, realizing they hadn't been introduced.

Jaune nodded. "Jaune Arc. Welcome to to Arc's Metalworks." He said, making Pyrrha giggle softly. The introduction wasn't exactly needed at this moment. "You're Pyrrha's friends right?" Seeing Ruby nod he continued. "Perfect timing then. I'd get up myself if I could, but would you two mind getting the pies from the back. They're in the oven behind the wall behind the counter."

Ruby shot to her feet. "Of course!" She said, dragging Yang behind her.

Pyrrha shook her head in disbelief. "You just got robbed, shot, and you can't stand yet you're offering us pie."

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry I can't offer you more. You guys might have just saved my life after all."

Pyrrha dropped her head into her hands, smiling. "Jaune, you're too sweet. We didn't do this for payment. It's our job, and besides, I'd never let one of my friends get hurt if I can help it."

Jaune smiled before groaning. "I wish I could serve you guys properly. I don't know how long it will take for my arm to heal. I wish I had aura."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think I have any. I've tried using it before, but nothing happens. At least, not like the stories my grandpa told me."

"Jaune, all living humans fannus and animals have aura. Unless you're a creature of grimm you have one."

Jaune stared at her in shock. "Really?"

Pyrrha thought for a moment, before moving to kneel in front of him, placing on hand on his chest, and the other one on the side of his face gently. "Relax, and try to imagine the aura inside of you. Try to imagine your soul manifesting itself."

Jaune blushed slightly from the contact, but closed his eyes.

Pyrrha began to glow red as her eyes widened, before she closed her eyes and spoke silently to herself. _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death._ _I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee._

Jaune had began to glow as well. After a moment Pyrrha stopped glowing and slumped forward, resting her head on his chest as she took a deep breath.

"Pyrrha! Are you okay?" He asked nervously, gently touching her shoulder.

Pyrrha just leaned back and smiled. "It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." She noticed the cut on his forehead quickly healed itself. "You have a lot of it."

Jaune was shocked as he looked at his hands, seeing a white glow. It faded after a moment, as he felt better than before, though his head was still ringing in pain. "Wow..."

Pyrrha just smiled. "See? We all have it. Hopefully this will keep you safer in the future."

Yang coughed slightly, making them both jump as she just stood there smirking with a pie in her hands. "That was an impressive light show. Now if you two are done being intimate, do you mind if we try this pie? It smells absolutely mouthwatering."

Jaune blushed red, nodding. "Please go ahead. The plates are in the cupboard above the oven. Silverware, the drawer next to it." Yang walked back while laughing, as Weiss and Jane walked back with a cop in tow.

"The cop has a few questions for Jaune." Weiss said, glancing over at the pie.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune, noticing his gaze was lingering on Weiss a bit, before he looked up at her.

"Do you feel up to the questions?" She asked Jaune, still standing between him and the cop, ignoring the creeping thoughts of seeing Jaune look at Weiss, and what it could mean.

Jaune smiled. "I feel fine, thanks to you. Go have some pie while I talk to him." He suggested.

Pyrrha smiled and nodded. "Okay." She touched his shoulder comfortingly as she walked past him, getting in line behind Jane as the girls and Ren lined up at the three pies, all waiting for Blake to finish serving up slices.

After a few minutes the cops had finished questioning Jaune about the situation, asked the remaining students a few questions before heading off on their way with the thugs under arrest. They had even had a medic look at his arm, though they were impressed to see what his aura had done to treat his wound.

"This. Is. Amazing!" Nora said. "We have to have this like, everyday."

"This is delicious, but that's a little impractical isn't it Nora?" Ren asked.

Ruby just kicked her legs happily as she munched on it, grinning at Jane who was silently enjoying it as well.

Yang and Blake were happily munching on it off in the corner as Weiss sat across from Jaune and Pyrrha. "This is very delicious." Weiss praised.

Jaune blushed. "Thank you guys. I'm glad you could enjoy it."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at his blush. "You made so much though. I don't know if we should finish it all at once."

Jaune looked over at Pyrrha smiling. "Well you always seem to want a slice when you head home, so I figured you and your friends would appreciate having a pie to take home so you can have some later if you want. After saving me, I'm certainly glad I could at least offer this."

"Thank you Jaune!" Pyrrha said happily.

"You're very thoughtful." Weiss offered.

"Wait!" Nora said, slamming the ground, making everyone jump. Everyone turned to her nervously.

"You had a piece to take home, twice, and you didn't let us try it before now?" Nora accused twice.

Pyrrha just smiled a little guilty. "Um..."

"How. Dare. You! You hid pie from us! I thought we could trust each other!" Nora said, throwing her head back dramatically as she collapsed.

Everyone started laughing until Jaune started coughing and rubbing his temples.

Pyrrha frowned, and set down her empty plate and stood behind Jaune's chair. She gently began to rub his temples, earning an appreciative sigh from the boy.

Jaune could feel his roaring headache turn into a dull throb under Pyrrha's ministrations.

"You'll feel much better in the morning." Pyrrha offered. "Make sure to drink plenty of liquids and get to sleep early."

Jaune nodded in a daze. "Yes Pyrrha."

Yang snickered and mumbled something to Blake, who blushed and slapped her shoulder.

Pyrrha glanced over at them curiously, but figured it was better not to ask.

Some more time passed, and as the laughter and stories died down it was getting late and both teams figured they should get back soon.

Jaune was able to stand at this point. "Thank you all again. I owe you guys my life. It's not much but you guys can have pie from me at any point." Nora cheered and Ruby just smiled. "Don't worry about it Jaune! It's our job, and we're all friends now right? Friends help each other."

Jaune stared at her a bit wide eyed. "Friends?" He looked around as each of them smiled and nodded, before looking at Pyrrha who put a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded, sniffing once. "Thank you all so much." He paused. "Wait. Didn't you have repairs that were needed?"

Blake's eyes widened, she had almost forgotten. "My Gambol Shroud could use some work, but if you don't feel up to it after today that's fine."

Jaune stepped forward suddenly. "No! I can do it! I promise!"

Blake looked a bit hesitant but Pyrrha smiled reassuringly. "He can take good care of it. Cheaper here too."

Jaune nodded. "Of course you guys get the friends and family discount here! I'd do it for free but my dad..." he trailed off.

Blake sighed and smiled. "That sounds good then." Handing him her weapon.

As Blake and Jaune moved to the counter to write up the agreement the rest of the group moved outside, save for Pyrrha.

Blake thanked Jaune once again before walking out with her receipt to meet up with her group when Pyrrha smiled. "We'll be going now." Jaune smiled before waving.

Pausing, Pyrrha walkedup to him and poking him in the chest, glaring softly. "Get. Some. Sleep."

Jaune raised his eyebrows in shock. "What?"

Pyrrha glared at him. "I mean sleep early. It's the weekend so Blake can wait for her weapon for a few days before it's a problem. You were shot today. Get some sleep. Don't stay up late working."

Smiling a little nervously Jaune asked "Am I that obvious?" Seeing Pyrrha's continued glare, he sighed. "Promise! I'll get sleep early tonight."

Pyrrha smirked. "Good. An Arc never goes back on his word, remember?"

Jaune laughed. "I got it." He sighed for a moment. "Thank you for unlocking my Aura. I promise to keep practicing with it. Maybe some day I'll even get a Semblance. Then I can become a hunter and help you!"

Pyrrha just stared at him, before pulling him into a hug suddenly.

Jaune blushed, but hugged her back after a moment.

Pyrrha stepped back, blushing as red as her hair. She wasn't used to open displays of affection like that. "Sorry! I just... You're very kind Jaune. Please take care of yourself okay? I don't want to keep seeing you passed out. You'll make a great hunter one day, but you have to take care of yourself first."

Jaune was a bit overwhelmed by the compliments. "I promise Pyrrha. I'll be better. Next time you come in I'll be fit as a fiddle."

Pyrrha laughed. "I'll hold you to that. See you later!"

Jaune smiled. "Thank you for coming to Arc's Metalworks!"

Pyrrha just smiled and she jogged to catch up to the rest of her friends, thanking the powers that be that she was able to help him today. She knew deep down inside, she was glad of the path she had taken, and who she met. She couldn't wait to see what was next.

XxXxXxXxX

I hope you enjoyed it! Don't worry this wont devlove into a love triangle, but in the efforts of keeping characters in character, I had to mention his affections towards her. He was pretty smitten at first site with her, so I believe that would happen. But this wont be a long drawn out triangle, trust me. =P Thank you all so much for your reviews, I really appreciate it! I try to take your feedback into consideration and use them as motivation to keep writing. I hope you all have a lovely day/night! Till next time.


	4. The Training

Pyrrha pulled her scarf tighter around neck as she trailed behind Blake and Ruby. Saturday had passed, and Blake had gotten a message around mid Sunday that Jaune had finished the repairs. Pyrrha had offered to go with her back to the shop, knowing it could be a bit hard to find on your own, and just as an excuse to check on up Jaune and make sure he was recovering fine from the incident. Ruby was tagging along at the prospect of more pastries, while the rest of their teams were too busy this evening to go, though Yang had ushered off Pyrrha with a "good luck!".

Ruby and Blake were happily chatting about a book Blake had loaned Ruby, while Pyrrha hadn't read it yet so she was hanging back to avoid spoilers.

As they approached the shop, Pyrrha felt a mixture of nerves and joy. She always had a good time at the shop it seemed, but more often than not Jaune seemed to find himself in a bit of trouble. At least he didn't seem to be in the middle of getting robbed. An improvement for sure.

Ruby held the door open, letting Pyrrha walk through first as she braced herself, ready to react to whatever situation could be waiting for her.

She let out a sigh of relief at seeing Jaune merely attending the counter, working on some piece of machinery, cleaning out gunk from the gears. "Thank goodness" She mumbled to herself, seeing him perfectly fine for once. She shook her head dismissively as Jaune tilted his head, a little curious as to that response to entering his shop.

"Welcome to Arc's Metalworks." Jaune offered with his usual smile.

Noticing Ruby peeking around, looking for something, Jaune stood up suddenly. "Right!" He said, rushing behind the counter. "Wait!" He said, turning around and running to the sink to wash his hands thoroughly, cleaning off all the grease and oil.

Returning to where he was, Pyrrha felt a vicious onslaught of heavenly bliss as the smell of the fresh baked pie overtook the store. Her stomach rumbled in response, and in a flurry of petals Ruby as at the counter, leaning over and taking a whiff. "That smells soo good." She said, eager for a slice.

Jaune just smiled, walking with the pie in both hands. "Uh..."

Pyrrha was already moving the metal frame for Jaune to set it down on.

"Thanks. Here, let me get some plates." He said, taking off the over mitts and moving over to get the plates and forks he needed. "I'm getting plenty of practice, maybe I should open up a bakery." He said idly as he served up the slices for everyone.

"You'd probably be quite successful." Blake said, taking a bite happily.

Ruby just sighed in appreciation, quickly working on her slice.

"You're very talented, have you made anything else?" Pyrrha asked, once again enjoying Jaune's baking. Baking wasn't one of her own personal strongest points, never finding much time to practice, but she certainly could appreciate it.

Jaune thought for a moment, leaning against the counter. "I certainly wasn't very good when I started, but nowadays I can probably make pies, cookies, cake if I can find my sister's recipe, but when it comes to traditional cooking, my best is probably fish. I used to go fishing with my dad when we were young so we ate it often." He explained, thinking.

Ruby perked up at the mention of cookies, and Blake perked up at the mention of fish.

Backing up a little, Jaune felt uncomfortable under the intense stares of Ruby and Blake.

"Cookies." Ruby said in awe.

"Fish." Blake said in admiration.

Looking to Pyrrha for help, Jaune smiled nervously. "Uh... yeah?"

Pyrrha just snickered to herself. "Looks like you have some requests."

Jaune laughed nervously, suddenly feeling a lot of pressure. "Next time I know you're coming by Ruby I'll make some cookies. If I can get my hands on some fish..."

"I can get some." Blake interrupted, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Jaune's eyes widened. "Uh... okay?" He said unsure.

"I can get you fish." She reaffirmed, if Jaune's cooking skills were half as good as his baking skills Blake knew she had to try his fish.

Jaune just smiled, still a bit unsettled. "Well then I'd be happy to make it for you."

Pyrrha was just sitting back laughing at the mechanic being treated as a chef. Still, judging by the smile he was wearing, she had a hunch he was enjoying being around friends his age. Pyrrha certainly knew she appreciated all of the antics she got dragged into, after her life of being held above everyone else.

As the girls helped themselves to a second slice, excusing themselves as a reward for the workout they did, Jaune went back to working on the project in front of him. Pulling out a power-drill, he began to work on drilling a hole into the sheet of metal that had seemingly been cut very precisely.

"Uh, this is going to be loud for a second." He warned as he began to drill through the metal.

Blake winced, her bow twitching slightly as she tried to focus on the story Ruby was telling.

The door opened behind them, and Pyrrha looked to see who had entered, vaguely aware of the drill making a very strange sound.

In had just walked what looked like a professional hunter. The large male walked in, walking straight up to the front, ignoring the possibility of the three girls having been customers. The girls just picked up their plates, moving off to the side near the fire, figuring actual customers came first. Pyrrha had a bad feeling in her gut again.

"'Ey boy. Yer dad back yet?" The man asked in a gruff voice.

Jaune was standing at the counter at this point, seemingly doing his best to look professional. "No Mr. Smough. I'm afraid he wont be returning till about Tuesday, he's still off helping my mother and sisters move here."

The large man just sighed. "Damn it. Need ma damn axe tuned. The transformation has been off for a while now." He said, rubbing his hand through his hair.

"I could take a look at it." Jaune offered nervously.

The man just burst out laughing. "Ha! That's funny boy. I came here cause I need a good Mechanic to fix it, that's why I came for yer pop. I don't trust ya to fix my shitter back home, let alone my axe."

Jaune looked crestfallen as his shoulders slumped. "I see. I've improved recently so I thought I'd offer."

Smough just glared at him. "Last time you touched one of ma things, it burst into fire."

Jaune bowed his head. "I apologize again. I didn't know there was still some fire Dust on my hands when I tried to fix your blender. The charge had ignited the dust an-"

"I don't need yer excuses, I need yer dad, boy." He interrupted him, slamming his massive hand down on the counter. "Weren't ya supposed to be a hunter? That's all ya talked about as a little shit. Give up on that yet?" He asked, making Jaune shrink down even further.

Pyrrha stood up suddenly, making the man turn around.

"Oh, yer a customer too little lass? I'd avoid trusting this lad till his dad gets back. His dad's the best in Vale, but the apple fell a little far from the tree. Known the dad fer years, he'll treat you right for sure. Don't let this boy fool you about the shop."

Pyrrha's fist clenched at her side angrily, but she knew she shouldn't start an argument in someone else's place of business. She opened her mouth to speak when Ruby chimed in.

"Nope." She offered, making the large man turn to the little girl.

"Hm? Kids should be careful around shops like these, it's easy to get hurt around weapons." He offered.

Ruby just stared at him. "Jaune's a good mechanic, you know? He fixes up our weapons for us, no problem. Right Jaune?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." Jaune answered meekly.

"Speaking of weapons." Blake chimed in, looking expectantly at Jaune, not particularly fond of all the drama happening.

"Right! One second." He said, moving to turn around before being yanked back into place. Every stopped and stared at him, before he shimmied out of his hoodie which was currently screwed into the counter by the drill that was going through the metal. Leaving the hoodie draped over the counter, he fled to the back as Pyrrha dropped her head in her hands and Ruby burst out laughing.

Blake leaned over to Pyrrha, whispering. "Are you sure it's okay to have trusted him with Gambol Shroud?" She asked.

Pyrrha just smiled. "I'm pretty sure. Just watch." She said, hoping with all that she had that Jaune would meet her expectations.

Jaune walked back, still red in the face, as he handed Blake her weapon.

Smough took a step back. "Watch fer explosions." He offered helpfully. "Yer dad is letting ya touch weapons now?" He asked accusingly.

Jaune looked down at the floor. "He... doesn't quite know yet."

Blake took a deep breath before pulling out the blade. It was polished well at least. The metal was shining bright as new.

"You can polish at least." Smough offered, earning a glare from Pyrrha and Ruby.

Blake swung it a few times. "Balance is good." Transforming it into it's pistol form she smirked. "Transformation is back to normal, just as quick as needed.

Jaune had finished setting up the target in the back of the store, setting aside for Blake.

Albeit a bit nervously, Blake took aim at the target as she fired off a few rounds. The bullets hit their mark perfectly dead on. Blake threw her pistol, as it impaled itself into the target in the dead center. "Hold it." She told Jaune as she yanked the ribbon, freeing it and pulling the pistol back to her hand. She slid the sword into the sheath and smirked.

"Perfect. No complaints."

Ruby grinned, punching Jaune in the shoulder appreciatively as Pyrrha beamed with pride. She knew, her judgment about him wasn't wrong.

Smough just sighed. "Suppose even dogs can learn a new trick or two. Let yer dad know I stopped by. I'll come back later to give him my axe." He said, walking out of the store shaking his head. "Damn upstart kids."

Jaune let out a massive sigh, leaning against the wall and slid down it. "My heart." He mumbled.

Ruby walked over, leaning over and staring at him. "See? Told ya you are a good Mechanic." She offered. "And a good baker..." She trailed off.

Jaune just laughed. "Take another slice if you'd like."

Ruby was gone in a flurry of petals as Pyrrha walked over, reaching a hand down to him. "Good job."

Jaune smiled, taking her hand and standing up. "Thank you." He moved over to the counter as Blake finished paying for the repairs, reaffirming the repair was in fact done correctly.

"He's an old family friend. Known my dad for years. He's seen most of my screw ups so I don't blame him." Jaune offered to Pyrrha as she was staring at the back of the retreating hunter.

"Then he should know how reliable you are." Pyrrha countered, still annoyed their pleasant night was interrupted by someone who very clearly cared little about manners. More importantly, someone who seemingly cared so little for a friend's son. Pyrrha got a notification on her scroll while Jaune gave Blake her change.

Pyrrha was staring at her scroll. "It seems Nora and Yang want to do some more training tonight." Pyrrha explained.

Blake sighed. "I suppose I could use more practice."

Ruby stared longingly at the pie. "Awww"

"Here, you can bring the rest of the pie home to surprise your team after training." He offered. "Pyrrha, could you hold this for a moment?" He asked meekly as he held the power-drill.

Pyrrha set down her Scroll on the counter as she moved over, holding the metal piece in place while Jaune held his sweatshirt and reversed the drill, freeing his sweatshirt from the counter as he put it back on. "Thanks. I can't believe that happened again." He mumbled as he went to get a box for the pie.

"Again?" Blake asked Pyrrha.

Pyrrha just shook her head, smiling softly. He really did seem to be clumsy, and she was starting to understand the warnings she had received, not that she agreed with him. He was the type to come through when it really mattered.

A few minutes later and all three girls were out the door with their box of pie.

"Have fun training!" Jaune offered, a little longingly.

Pyrrha offered a sympathetic smile. She knew how much he wanted to be a huntsmen, and based off what Smough had said, when he was young he wanted to be one even more. She just wished there was something she could do for him. She waved goodbye as she walked off with Ruby and Blake.

A few minutes into their walk back, as Blake was holding the pie up and out of Ruby's reach so she couldn't take another slice, Pyrrha realized she couldn't find her scroll. Pyrrha stopped walking, face-palming as she sighed. "I left my scroll in the shop."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Left?"

Pyrrha blushed. "It was an accident!" She said in defense. "Head on back, I'll go and get it and meet you back at the school."

Pyrrha turned and began running back to the shop, hoping to get back before Jaune closed up the shop. As she tried the door, she saw it was still open thankfully. Surprisingly though, Jaune wasn't at the counter, the metal piece had been abandoned. She was about to call for Jaune when she heard what sounded like metal hitting metal. Not the weirdest sound for a metal shop, but angry screams from Jaune was a little more concerning. It sounded like Jaune was struggling, so she quickly moved through the shop, drawing her sword and shield. Perhaps the thugs from before were back for revenge?

"Jaune!" She said, as she moved to a room in the back the sounds were coming from. She stopped in place at what she saw.

Three crudely set up training dummies were in set up in a half circle, with Jaune wielding a sword and shield in the middle of all them, letting out grunts of effort as he swung his sword haphazardly at one of them. He was wearing a set of white armor on his upper half, one she had seen in the back of the shop before.

"Hyah! Hyah! HyyyyaahH!" He called out, as he viciously attacked the dummy standing still. As she watched him, she smiled softly. His form was a mess, and it seemed more like wild swings than any sort of practiced form, but it was obvious he was putting in a serious effort.

"Jaune!" She called as he was about to strike again, making him jump and spin around, his sword catching the head of the dummy and decapitating him.

"Pyrrha!" He said in shock and embarrassment. "What are you doing here?"

"I left my scroll here accidentally. I heard fighting and thought you might be in trouble."

"No. I uh... how much did you see?" He asked, his head in his hands.

Pyrrha smiled warmly. "I saw you deal with your foe very handily. It was a clear victory for you."

Jaune just dropped his head. "I know. It's silly. It's okay to laugh. I know it's pointless."

Pyrrha just shook her head as she walked towards him. "Oh Jaune, I'd never laugh at someone trying their best. It's never pointless. I respect the fact that you're trying your best to improve yourself." She said. "Everyone has to start somewhere, and self discipline is an important virtue."

Jaune looked at her, looking for any hint of deception or flattery but she seemed genuine. "Thanks Pyrrha. All I can do is practice how I remember seeing my sister practice."

Pyrrha nodded. "I can see you're working hard. Though you might want to... ah nevermind. Sorry." She cut herself off. She realized, she had invaded on his privacy in the first place, and to just offer advice could be a little rude and condescending.

Jaune stopped her, grabbing her wrist. "Pyrrha please! I mean, if you have any advice. I know you need to get back to your training, so it's fine. I just would appreciate any help you could offer me. There's only so much I learn on my own." Normally he was determined to do it on his own, but he knew if it was going to go anywhere he needed help, even if he had to swallow his pride.

Pyrrha turned away, thinking for a moment before rolling her eyes. What the heck. She turned around. "Your stance is wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She said, gently shoving him as he stumbled and fell back. "See?"

Jaune looked up at her, and smiled. "Yeah."

Pyrrha helped him up and showed him the proper stance. "Now show me what you got." She challenged.

Jaune nodded. "Hyaaaggghhh!" He shouted as he began to wildly swing his sword at the dummy. Finally finishing, he tried to catch his breath as he turned and saw Pyrrha covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. "Pyrrha!" He whined. "You said you wouldn't laugh!"

Pyrrha just burst out into giggles. "It's fine Jaune! I'm sorry! I shouldn't be laughing. You just look so earnest while swinging your sword so wildly. I'm not laughing at you for trying, I promise! Everyone starts somewhere. With some proper practice you can become a fine hunter."

Jaune pouted, looking away.

Pyrrha let out a sigh as she finally got her giggles under control and smiled touching his shoulder. "You have a lot of work ahead of you but I have to get going."

Jaune sighed and nodded his head. "I understand. I didn't mean to keep you from your team."

Pyrrha smiled. "So do Saturdays work for you?"

Jaune stood there confused. "What?"

"I'm free on Saturdays most weeks, though I'm an early riser. How about we start practicing in the morning then?"

The gears in Jaune's head turned as he tried to understand exactly what she was saying. "Of course! I mean yes! I can get up in the morning on Saturday, and we usually open the shop later anyway on Saturdays. But are you sure? You must be busy with your team and schoolwork. Plus you have your own training to do."

Pyrrha smiled. "Jaune, it's fine. Ren is the only who gets up early on Saturdays anyway, and my studies are fine. Besides, teaching is the best way to understand something. I'd be honored to help you train. We all need a little help sometimes."

Jaune nodded his head. "Thank you Pyrrha! I'll make it up to your somehow."

Shaking her head, Pyrrha only offered a smile. "Just do your best, and that'll be enough. We'll grow together after all."

Jaune just couldn't sit still as he struggled to contain his grin. He put away his sword as he stepped forward, quickly hugging Pyrrha before stepping back, practically jumping in the air out of joy. "Ah I'm so excited!" He cheered. He was going to get help from someone as amazing as Pyrrha Nikos!

Pyrrha just blushed lightly, giggling softly at the boy's overwhelming joy. She felt honored she could make someone that happy. "Now then, next Saturday I'll see you bright and early for our morning run!"

She laughed she saw him stop, realizing what the training would actually entail. He shook his head and smiled. "Of course! I'll be ready at 9 AM."

"7 AM."

"Come again?" He asked.

Pyrrha smirked. "7AM is when I'll be here. If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right."

"Right. 7 AM." He said nervously.

Pyrrha just walked back towards the exit with Jaune following her. "Too late to go back now! Try and stretch before I get here so you're ready."

"Right..." Jaune said still a bit nervous.

Pyrrha just laughed again. "I'll see you next week Jaune. I look forward to it."

"Be safe getting home!" He offered with a smile that kept Pyrrha feeling warm all the way home.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I may be getting busy the next few days as I catch up work so the next few chapters may be a bit slower to update. I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story and I appreciate every notification I get! This is cross posted on my Tumblr as well.

To Address some common questions I've gotten.

Jane was born out of a needed replacement for Jaune on team JNPR. She's mostly a shy and quiet girl like velvet, but incredibly naive and a bit clumsy. Sort of a foil for Pyrrha. She should show up a little more in future chapters, but her character wont be as fleshed out sadly because she is mostly a stand in and not a major character but I'll try to do her a little more justice.

I attempted to explain the Arc's situation a little more in this chapter, but they current live out of the kingdom, and the dad are moving the rest of the family to Vale, after Jaune and the dad moved to establish the new shop. They family wont feature too heavily aside from a few chapters I have planned, but they should pop up a bit. Actually next chapter you'll get to see a little more of them, and I'm personally excited!

As for his semblance, it wont show up in this story unless it happens to be revealed in an official episode before the end of the story. I really try to avoid filling holes in the canon, because it dates the story and makes it a little difficult to read after the details are revealed later. A bit weird for an AU, but I really enjoy sticking to canon as much as I can. That's why his family, save for one sister, wont be featured too heavily in this.

Thank you for all the reviews and views, and I hope I can continue to make something worth reading!


	5. The Forest

Pyrrha hummed happily as she walked back to her dorm. Normally Mondays were always a bit rough, having to get back to work after a weekend of free time, but she was in a cheery mood. After all, she couldn't wait for next Saturday to start training with Jaune.

There was definitely a lot of potential lying in wait within that boy in her opinion. How dedicated he was, how much Aura he had, he seemed like a bundle of raw potential that just lacked proper instruction. If she was honest with herself, Pyrrha wasn't completely positive she'd be the best teacher, but she would do her best. She was reading through some books on teaching in the library when she took a break from schoolwork in order to prepare, but she had realized she forgot one of her textbooks in the dorm.

As she opened the door, she found her book sitting on the desk, exactly where she expected it. Grabbing it, she was about to return to the library when she remembered her scroll. She had forgotten to plug it in last night, and it had died so she left in in their room to charge. Figuring it was good by now, she grabbed it from her bed, noticing a few messages. Checking them, she nearly dropped her phone in terror.

Ditching her textbook, she took off at dead sprint, dashing down the hallways, yelling apologies to anyone she nearly collided into.

The rest of Team JNPR and team RWBY were already around a table, diligently working. At least some of them were. Blake was lost in one of her "romance novels", Nora was passed out, and Jane was face down on the desk, groaning in bitter defeat about not understanding any of the text. Ruby was in a similar situation, but Weiss was showing her pity and helping her work through it at the moment. The all jumped to attention as they saw Pyrrha come sprinting in, out of breath. Pyrrha always had her composure, and would never be as disruptive as to sprint into a library so they all assumed something had to be wrong.

Pyrrha just held up her phone to the group as she rested her other hand on her knee, catching her breath. The dorms and libraries weren't exactly close.

Yang took the phone, reading the messages out loud for everyone.

"It's from _Jaune_ " Yang said with a teasing tone at first.

"Do you, and your friends, want to come over tonight? I want to make you guys something special as thanks for helping me." She started off, raising an eyebrow at Pyrrha. "Helping him?" She said with a smirk.

Pyrrha just rolled her hand, indicating for yang to keep reading as she finally managed to return her breathing to normal.

"Oh, shoot! I'm out of Sap for the pie. I found a special local recipe that I wanted to try..." Yang continued.

Weiss sighed. "He should check things like that before sending out invites." She said, shaking her head.

"There's another message." Yang said. Her eyes widened as she read ahead.

"The stores are out of stock, but the sap can be found in Forever Fall. That forest is just north of Vale so I'll just go collect some, so if you guys want to come over, just head over tonight and I should be back by then. Don't worry I'll bring my sword and shield to be safe. Either way, let me know if you guys can make it! Thanks again." She finished.

Weiss had her head in her hands, Blake was already packing up as Ren woke up Nora and quickly gathered their teams stuff. Jane was the first to speak up.

"He... he wouldn't go off into Forever Fall alone right? Sure it's just right outside Vale, but the forest is still littered with Grimm. A student going in alone is dangerous, but a civilian is just suicide."

Pyrrha just looked grim, "His dad doesn't get here till tomorrow, with the rest of his family so I'm pretty sure he'd go alone. He probably doesn't know how dangerous the forest is."

Ren took a deep breath. "Maybe he just stayed near the edge, right near the walls are pretty safe and watched for travelers so he could be back by now." Ren offered, only half convinced.

Pyrrha paced back and forth. "I called him and he didn't pick up. By the time we get to the store, if he's not back it will be a long time before we could make it to Forever Fall, but we cant wander around Forever Fall looking for him if he's home.

Ruby stood up. "Okay guys, here's what we're going to do. Pyrrha, head to Ozpin and explain the situation. The rest of you drop the stuff off in our rooms and get our weapons. I'll go check the shop and run back." She said, stretching her legs out.

The rest of them nodded, already starting to do that when Yang stared at Ruby. "Be careful, and pace yourself. If you're too tired you can't go to Forever Fall if we need to go, and call us as soon as you know if he's there." She ordered.

With a salute, Ruby nodded before leaning forward and vanishing in a flurry of petals as she dashed towards the shop. She couldn't make it all the way there, but she could get there faster than everyone else for sure. Plus someone's life was on the line so she couldn't afford to be slow.

While Ruby was running her marathon, Pyrrha was sprinting again towards Ozpin's office.

Luckily in the corridor there, she found Ozpin walking back calmly with a Mug in his hand. Some part of her was grateful she didn't have to try and sprint up stairs.

"Ozpin!" She said as she ran up to him, leaning forward again to catch her breath. She didn't have to worry about doing her cardio routine later at least.

Ozpin turned around, taking a sip from his mug with a calm, mildly amused smile. "Well hello Ms. Nikos. Is something wrong?"

Pyrrha stood up, taking a deep breath. She was glad she hadn't neglected her Cardio because the distance she had already run today was not insignificant.

Ozpin just watched her patiently, letting her catch her breath.

"Sir, there's a shop in Vale called Arc's Metalworks." She started.

Ozpin nodded his head. "I've heard of it. Mr. Arc and his son Jaune work there I believe. I've heard quiet remarkable things about it."

Pyrrha smiled. "Yes, they've fixed my weapon, and Jaune seems to be a very good mechanic." She shook her head. "Anyway, there's a problem! Jaune went alone to Forever Fall to gather sap for baking. Without a hunter, it's incredibly dangerous right?" She asked, hoping to be proven wrong.

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee, thinking carefully. "It is indeed very dangerous. Vale is popular, so hunters and huntress's often pass through Vale, so there's a chance the forest's population of Grimm had be culled recently, but the Grimm are always waiting. Are you sure that he's not home safe?" He asked as he pulled out his scroll, beginning to type away.

Pyrrha shook her head. "He messaged me earlier in the day, but I didn't have my scroll on me so I just saw the messages. He didn't answer my calls but Ruby is checking out the sto-" She was interrupted as her scroll rang. She looked at Ozpin, who merely motioned for her to take the call as he took another sip.

"Ruby? Is he- Oh... okay." Pyrrha said, feeling a tight fist clench around her heart. "Hold on, Ruby." Pyrrha said before looking at Ozpin.

Ozpin finished typing. "Go to Airship pad 1 with your team and team RWBY, there will be an airship waiting for you to take you to forever fall." He paused for a moment. "Unfortunately I can't go with you at the moment, and there are no hunters available right away. We will be sending back up when we can, but this will be dangerous." He explained.

Pyrrha nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "Of course, but Jaune is my friend and it's my job as a Huntress to protect the lives of those around us."

Ozpin smiled. "Well said. Now go! Listen to your team leaders. And good luck." He said as Pyrrha turned and ran off, explaining the situation to Ruby on the phone before calling Ren and explaining to them too.

Ozpin just took another sip from his drink as he typed something else on his scroll. Holding it up he spoke. "Hello? It's Ozpin. Do you happen to be close yet? It's about Jaune..."

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha was sitting on the airship, her leg bouncing up and down nervously.

Jane rested her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder with a comforting smile. "He'll be fine. We'll find him right away, and Ozpin messaged me to say that he has an officer waiting at Arc's Metalworks so if Jaune returns we'll get a call and know right away."

Pyrrha nodded. "I'm just nervous. I've seen him training, I don't think he could handle more than a Beowulf as it is." She said. She was just grateful he now had some idea of Aura so he had at least a little more protection.

Ruby just made sure her clips were all loaded. "He'll be fine. He wants to be a hunter right? He can't lose to the Grimm now." She said cheerfully.

Blake was staring out the side of the airship nervously, having grown up outside the kingdoms she knew the horrors that could lurk in the wild. She wasn't particularly close with Jaune, but he seemed kind. If she had to guess, she even guessed that he wouldn't mind learning she was a Fannus. A honest boy like him didn't deserve to meet his end here.

Weiss was a bit nervous as well as she tapped on her scroll, glancing over at seeing how clearly stressed Pyrrha was. She was also concerned about Jaune, a simple shop keep like him was in way over his head.

Yang cracked her knuckles. Nothing was going to stand in the way of them rescuing Jaune, and she had a few words she would be saying to him once he was home safe. He shouldn't make them worry like he was.

Ren just sat in silence, as Nora sat next to him, very clearly on edge.

Jane stood up as she heard the announcement they were almost there. "Okay. We'll split up into our teams and look around. If you find any sign of him, call for back up immediately.

Ruby nodded her head. "My team will scout ahead and look for a sign further in while you guys keep check more thoroughly at the edge before following us in.

Everyone agreed and soon they were at the forest's edge. Making sure they still had signal, they split up as team JNPR began to check around.

Aside from a few scattered Grimm, the forest seemed empty, which both relieved and made Pyrrha stressed. They hadn't seen any sign of Jaune, and every passing minute meant his chances were getting lower and lower if he was in trouble. They had been calling his name loudly, but hadn't heard any sort of response yet. It had been about half an hour since they had landed, and still had no sign of him. Jane's scroll started ringing and everyone froze.

She pulled it out with too much panic, causing it to fumble before she dove forward onto the ground, answering it as she slammed down roughly. "Ow, hello! Is Jaune okay?" She asked in a panic.

"I see. North of here? We'll be there in a few. Wait for us."

Jane hung up the phone and stood up, brushing off dirt and leaves. "They found shards of glass. And a lid, like someone was jarring up some Sap. The sap on the shards seemed fresh. No blood."

Pyrrha's stomach dropped. No blood was good, but the broken shards meant something was wrong. They quickly ran towards where team RWBY said they were, seeing them after a few minutes standing around a tree. Ruby was missing, but they seemed relaxed.

"She's off looking over there. There's a sign of some struggle and some tracks that lead that way so Ruby is checking it out with her speed." Blake explained.

Blake was the best tracker out of the group, due to her childhood. She could find someone in a forest pretty well if they weren't trying to hide themselves, and for once she felt a bit thankful for her past.

"We should go meet up with he-" Pyrrha was about to suggest when Ruby appeared in a flurry of petals, wiping sweat from her brow. "I found something!" She said, trying to catch her breath.

Pyrrha stepped forward nervously. "Is he..."

Ruby's expression was a little grim. "It's not good... Come look."

The group began to ran to where Ruby had been searching before with a renewed sense of haste.

As they neared where Ruby had told them, they found out why Ruby didn't want to say what she found.

Pyrrha stared up in horror at the tree in front of her.

A little above her height, Jaune's sword was sticking out of the tree. What concerned her more, was the blood dripping from the handle, and the bloody hand print on the tree.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha said, feeling her knees shake.

Jane walked up, gently putting a hand on her shoulder again. "It's not over yet. That seems fresh, and it's just his sword. He might still need us."

Blake walked over, staring at the hand print. "This was very recent. He can't be more than a few minutes ahead of us. Plus, if he's bleeding it will be easier to follow him." She offered, a bit bluntly, but it was true. Her smell was slightly better than a human's being a faunus, and bleeding left a trail.

Pyrrha nodded, feeling a fiery put burning in the center of her chest. Why did she forget to charge her scroll? None of this would have happened if she had just been more careful.

"Come on!" Ruby said as she began to ran in the direction Blake had indicated he went.

"Jaune!" She called out, and soon all the students were calling out his name.

Pyrrha held Jaune's sword, having freed it with her semblance as she ran, her hand clenched tightly around the handle.

"PYRRHA!" Ruby called suddenly, standing on top of a pile of boulders. Pyrrha sprinted towards her before she stumbled and fell to her knees as she saw what Ruby had seen. On the stack of boulders was Jaune's shield just resting there, most of the emblem on it masked in blood. "What..." She said, unable to understand. A Grimm wouldn't put it on display. Was it a rogue hunter?

"He's here!" Ruby said, waving and pointing.

Pyrrha practically flew towards Ruby as she saw where she was pointing. There was a slim space between some of the boulders. Enough for someone to crawl into, but it'd be difficult to get out of for sure. The blood around the hole made her stomach drop too.

"Move." Blake said, a bit gently as she leaned next to Pyrrha looking down the hole. "He's in the back of the hole. But he's not moving. I think he's breathing though." Blake explained.

Pyrrha nearly collapsed in relief. She couldn't see that well, but since Blake had revealed that she was a Faunus. Pyrrha knew her eyes could see much better than a human's in the dark.

Ren looked around. "Wait. If Jaune was chased in there by Grimm, where are they? They wouldn't leave someone injured like that."

"Ren, look out!" Nora called as a Ursa shot out from the woods. Before it could reach Ren, it's face erupted into an explosion as Nora pelted it with her grenade launcher. Soon both teams found themselves in a herd of Ursai.

"You picked the wrong day to mess with us." Yang said as she crackled her knuckles, readying Ember Celica as she began to fight them.

Normally the fight would have been more stressful, but they all found themselves fighting with their back to the pile of boulders. For the first time since becoming students, they found themselves fighting for something other than their lives, they were fighting to protect someone else. They were fighting as hunters and huntresses, to keep the innocent safe. To keep their friend safe. And that was a battle they wouldn't lose.

Ruby was calling out commands to team RWBY while Jane was stepping up and ordering JNPR around, both leaders making sure no one was overwhelmed and there was no weak spot in their ring to let any Grimm through in case they went for the smell of blood.

The battle was rough, and dragged on for a while, when the Grimm were finally starting to thin. It seemed a bit odd that so many Ursai had gathered together. What was more intimidating was the lack of Ursa Majors that should have been around as well.

Almost as if on queue, two massive Ursa Major showed up, letting out a deafening roar and rumbling towards the two teams.

Pyrrha focused on the one on her team's side as Jane backed her up and Ren and Nora dealt with the remaining Ursa, while Ruby focused on hers with Weiss giving her support.

Pyrrha was not in the mood to drag the battle out any longer, she didn't know how injured Jaune was, or how much longer he had. She also knew that Grimm were attracted to negative feelings, and the amount of negative feelings being released by their group would surely continue to attract more in the area. "Nora, distract it!" Pyrrha called as she turned and ran back towards the rocks. Running up the side of it she launched herself into the air as Nora turned and slammed her hammer underneath the Ursa Major, knocking it backwards as Pyrrha descended from the air, her weapon turning into a spear as she jabbed it through the neck of the Ursa, pinning it to the ground.

She pulled her weapon out, and began to walk back to the rocks, to figure out how to free Jaune while Nora walked over to the Ursa Major, poking it. Team RWBY was finishing up theirs and Nora was curious to what one looked like up close. "Nora, we need your strength." Jane called out from the rocks next to Pyrrha.

With one last roar, the Ursa Major rose up, clearly injured but not dead behind Nora. It raised a massive paw, but before either Nora or the Ursa could react, Jaune's sword pierced it's head as it began to dissolve into dust.

Pyrrha lowered her glowing hand, her eyes still set in a hard glare as she used her semblance to pull the sword back to where she had launched it from with her semblance. It rested next to the shield as she tried to peak in the hole.

RWBY had joined up with them, finishing cleaning up their side. They all were tired, with a few scratches here and there, but overall they were okay.

"Let's just smash our way in!" Nora said determinedly.

Ren shook his head. "These boulders are carefully balanced against each other. If we break the wrong one they could come crashing down. Plus, the rubble could fly backwards and injure Jaune as well.

Jane though for a moment as she looked at the group, before back at the hole. "Weiss, can you place a Glyph behind the rock to stop any rocks from flying inwards?" She asked.

Weiss nodded as Jane turned to Ren. "This rock isn't keeping the others supported right? It's just leaned against here."

Ren looked over for a moment before nodding. "Correct, though any impact could upset the balance."

Jane nodded. It was incredibly convenient that the boulders here. Judging by the landscape, it was likely there had been some major battle here before since the ground seemed torn up in this area. Jane guessed the boulders had been stacked together to clean up the grounds after the battle to let nature grow back. It had given Jaune the refuge he needed.

"Weiss, form a Glyph behind the rock to block and debris from hitting him. Pyrrha, give Nora a boost up, Nora, Smash!" Jane orchestrated as she hopped back. "If the boulders start to shift, we have to get Jaune out quickly so let's be ready." She said.

Ruby took a spot facing the rock Nora was going to smash as she leaned forward. She was ready to dash in and back if needed to rescue Jaune.

Pyrrha crouched down with her shield above her as Nora hopped on it, firing off her hammer and sending her rocketing into the air. Pyrrha had been launched slightly as well from the force of the blast.

She landed and knelt down on the ground with her shield up to protect her from debris as she readied herself as well.

Nora grinned as she fell from high up above, slamming her Magnhild into the boulder. Blake's Gambol Shroud wrapped around her and pulled her to safety as the rocks exploded.

The debris harmless bounced off the glyph, pooling where it was, while Pyrrha blocked a few with her shield as she tried to see through the cloud of smoke. "It's off balance! Nora hit it too hard!" Jane called out.

In a blur, the teams had acted. Yang had slammed her fists together and showed up underneath the boulder, along side Nora, who were both bracing themselves and holding it up. The boulder was heavy, but the massive strength of the two girls was enough as Ruby dashed in. She had flipped mid way, so her feet planted on the rock in the back as she wrapped her arms around Jaune, before she kicked off the rock and dashed out of the opening to safety. Pyrrha had moved and caught Ruby and Jaune as they appeared, sliding back a bit with them, so they didn't have a rough landing.

Yang and Nora struggled a bit, their strength failing them as Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster in the ground, ice erupting underneath the boulder on top, reaching up and freezing it in place.

Nora and Yang quickly got to safety, unsure how long the ice would last, but it seemed to hold.

Ruby and Pyrrha gently set Jaune onto the ground, as Ruby took off her backpack.

Pyrrha covered her mouth, as tears leaked from her eyes at the sight in front of her. Jaune was breathing at least, but one of his arms had been broken, and his side was cut pretty bad from what looked like a set of Grimm claws. The rest of him was roughed up, but otherwise seemed to be intact.

"Here, let me." Blake said as she sat next to Jaune, and quickly began to remove his arm before she started to take off his hoodie and shirt. She had learned plenty of first aid, another perk of living in a dangerous hell as a child. Luckily, Jaune seemed to be so far out of it, he wouldn't be aware of the uncomfortableness her care would cause him.

Pyrrha just stared intently at Jaune's chest, watching it slowly breathe shallow, ragged breaths. She prayed to up above, giving thanks that Jaune was alive. He may be battered and bruised, but thank God, he was alive.

A few somber minutes later, and Jaune was bandaged. Blake stood up, holding out her hands as Yang poured some water out over them, letting her rinse off some blood. "It's not the best, but it'll be fine till we can get him back to Beacon. I'm sure he can get better treatment there."

"No." Weiss interrupted, causing Pyrrha to snap her attention to her, a slight glare in her direction. "Because, we're going to take him to the hospital in Vale. I already cleared it with them. They're expecting a patient and the fees have been covered. The Schnee Dust Company happens to have some stock in the hospital so I pulled a few strings."

Pyrrha's face softened. "Thank you Weiss."

Ruby hugged Weiss as Yang punched her shoulder. "You're very kind." Blake offered, once again glad to see not every Schnee was what she grew up believing.

There was a loud screech as everyone snapped to attention.

"A Nevermore? Really?" Yang called out to the heavens as she cocked her weapons.

Ruby shook her head. "We have Jaune now. Besides, we don't need to fight if we don't need to. Let's just head back to safety, hopefully backup will meet us and take care of them. Jaune is our priority."

The rest of the group nodded and Pyrrha was already carrying him bridal style. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it was the best way she could carry him without injuring his arm.

They began to sprint back towards the edge of the forest, when they heard the Caw again.

"Can't the Nevermore leave us alone!" Yang called back angrily.

"It has a friend." Ren yelled back as he saw a second one flying near it.

Luckily, the trees provided them decent cover from the birds, so they managed to make it most of the distance back towards the edge. All they had left was one more clearing and a little more forest before they would be home free.

As they burst into the clearing Ruby dashed ahead, switching weapon into it's full sniper mode as she fired off a few shots, hoping to distract the massive birds.

One of the birds reared back, before flinging massive feathers towards the group.

The group fanned out, managing to dodge most of the feathers, when Pyrrha looked back and saw a few more heading for her. She was too slow with Jaune, but she wasn't about to abandon him.

Turning her back on the feathers, she tried to hide behind a feather, covering him the best she could with her smaller frame.

Feathers pierced the ground all around her, and she thought she finally safe until one stabbed the ground next to her, the tip slicing through the side of her leg.

She screamed out in pain, but continued to shield Jaune.

Glancing down, she saw that her leg had been cut, but it wasn't horrible. Her aura had been so low from the fight with all the Ursai, that the powerful feather had pierced her Aura. She could stand, but just barely at this point. She couldn't run with Jaune, but she was separated from the rest of the group now by quite a bit.

"Jaune..." She said, looking down at him, as she saw his troubled unconscious face. She felt a new fire burning within her as she forced herself to stand up, wincing at the fire that shot through her leg. She would have to do her best. She turned to look at the two Nevermore circling around them, when something shot out of the woods. It was small, and hard to see, but electricity seemed to arc through the air for a moment, before one of the Nevermore's wings fell off it's body. The form seemed to have landed on the back of the bird, before the other wing fell off and the form shot skywards. A chunk of ice appeared in the sky, before the form shot away from the ice towards the Nevermore with blinding speed, as the Nevermore shot towards the ground like a bullet.

Crashing into the center of the clearing, the ground seemed to exploded from the impact as a cloud of dust covered the area.

When the dust finally cleared, Pyrrha saw the rest of team JNPR and RWBY had joined her, standing between the source of the dust, and herself.

Standing on top of the downed, dissolving, Nevermore, stood a lone figure. Sticking out of the back of the Nevermore was a massive spear, crackling with electricity. "Give. Me. The. Boy." A woman's voice rang out, dripping with danger and a threatening tone.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she clutched Jaune slightly closer to her.

The rest of the students took defensive positions between the two groups, ready for a fight. "Let us leave! We're taking him back to Vale." Ruby called out.

The woman just took a step forward, crouching slightly, before she appeared in front of Pyrrha, behind the group, as a trail of dust exploded behind her.

"Give. Me. Him. Now."

Her spear was pointed at Pyrrha's face, and Pyrrha felt fear pierce her heart.

She had faced Grimm, many talented students in tournaments, she had been fighting for her life for years, but the immense pressure coming from this woman almost made her want to retreat.

"Who are you? I'm not letting Jaune go." She said defiantly. This woman screamed danger, she couldn't trust Jaune to a stranger.

"Hyaahhh!" Ruby dashed towards the woman in a flurry of petals.

In a blur of motion, the Woman's hand shot out and caught Ruby, slamming her into the ground without mercy.

"Ruby!" Yang called out, her eyes glowing red as she was about to dash in before the Woman put up her hand.

The woman turned to Pyrrha. "You're hurt. You can't protect him. Give me Jaune. Now." She said.

Pyrrha froze. "You know his name?"

"Give me Jaune now, or I don't care if you are Ozpin's students, you will regret it."

Pyrrha hesitated. Ozpin had said backup was coming, and she clearly could have injured them if she wanted to at her level. She slowly offered Jaune to her, and the girl shrank her weapon down as she picked up Jaune and started walking back towards the airship.

A few steps away though, the girl dropped to her knees, clutching Jaune tightly to her chest. Her frame was wracked by sobs as she buried her head into his shoulder.

"Jaune. Thank God you're okay. You're okay. I'm so happy. You're alive." She said to herself over and over, crying over Jaune's frame.

Pyrrha struggled to her feet as Blake began to dress the wound on her leg as she looked at the back of the woman that had completely out classed them moments ago, crying over her friend's broken body.

Just who was she?

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Long chapter! Sorry for the delay. I've wanted to write this chapter since around chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed reading it! Next chapter may be a bit delayed again, busy times. This is cross posted on my Tumblr as well. Thank you all for the reviews and follows. I appreciate every one and try to consider them. Till next time, I hope you all have a wonderful day! :D


	6. The Hospital

Sorry for the delay! More explanations after the chapter.

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Pyrrha bounced her foot nervously as she stared at the clock, sitting in the waiting room of the Vale General Hospital. The surgery had been going on for about a few hours, and they hadn't received any word on the progress. Jane was talking quietly with Ren and Nora in the corner, all three of them clearly only half into the conversation. Blake was lost in a book, stealing glances at the clock every once in a while, while Weiss was merely on her scroll. Judging by her expression, it seemed to be something serious. Ruby and Yang sat on the floor playing cards while Yang told jokes, clearly trying to keep her little sister's spirits up despite feeling anxious herself. Nervously, Pyrrha's eyes flickered over to where the woman sat. She sat emotionless and silent, staring ahead at the door where the doctor would enter with a gaze Pyrrha couldn't even begin to understand. She at least understood why she was in that situation.

The airship trip back to Vale had been intense, to put it mildly. After everyone had loaded on board, the woman checked over Jaune, adjusting Blake's makeshift bandaging slightly, but mostly just fluttering about, clearly wanting to do more but unable to be of any use. Everyone had felt too awkward to speak up after the display of emotions that had been put on display in front of them, but Ruby was the first to speak up.

"Who... are you?" She had asked simply, sitting across from Jaune who was currently laying on the floor of the airship with his head resting in the woman's lap as she gently played with his hair.

The woman had regarded Ruby with a cold gaze, before looking at the rest of the group, before her gaze finally rested on Jaune.

"My name is Alice Arc. I'm Jaune's oldest sister." She said a bit curtly. Her gaze snapped up to Ruby. "Who are you all?" She challenged.

Ruby just smiled, as if her suspicions had been correct. "I'm Ruby, the leader of team RWBY. With a W. Not just my name... The blond over there is my sister Yang, the girl with the book is Blake and the ice queen is Weiss."

"Hey!"

Jane cleared her throat a bit nervously. "I'm Jane, and I'm the leader of team JNPR. She's Nora, you might recognize Pyrrha Nikos, and lastly he's Ren." Jane offered, gesturing to her teammates.

Alice nodded her head in a greeting. "How do you know my brother?" She continued.

Pyrrha had been the one to speak up this time. "My weapon had been damaged in a fight, and we were recommended to Arc's Metalworks. Jaune was the only one there, and convinced me to leave my weapon in his care." Pyrrha explained.

Alice stared a bit skeptically at her. "He repaired your weapon? I see he still takes big risks." She mumbled mostly to herself, smiling softly down at him.

Pyrrha nodded her head. "He voiced his... concerns. But he did a fine job. He met the rest of us when I took Blake in to have her weapon fixed as well."

Alice looked over to Blake, who merely nodded her head in approval.

"I'm willing to bet my Dad didn't know Jaune was doing this." Alice said with a sigh. "Jaune really can't give up on anything he sets his mind to, can he." She mumbled with a bit of bitterness in her voice.

She thought for a moment, before looking at Pyrrha with accusing eyes. "Let me guess. Pie?"

Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"You ate pie at the shop didn't you. That's why you went back there. You tasted his pie."

Pyrrha just stared at her. "Yes, he did offer me pie, but he did a fine job on my repairs."

Alice just sighed, resting her head against the wall of the airship. "I'm sure he did. He never stops surprising me. I swear his pies are magic though. Every since he learned to make them, he could get anything he wanted from us." Alice muttered.

"They were Sooooo good." Nora chimed in.

Alice smiled. "Yeah, they are. They certainly weren't at first, I actually got food poisoning from his first attempt, but each one slowly got better and better. All it took was a little white lie, and a little encouragement for him to keep baking. Before I knew it I was hooked and my stupid little brother could get me to buy him anything he wanted." She said fondly, staring down at the boy.

Pyrrha just giggled slightly at the thought of a little Jaune running up to his old sister with a pie day after day. He did seem like the type to try it over and over again with the slightest praise.

Alice's eyes narrowed again. "Why was he in the forest? He wouldn't just go there for a walk. 8 Hunters and huntresses in training become his friend and he ends up like this." She said accusingly. Ruby scooted back a little as Jane flinched. Even Pyrrha was feeling her nerves be tested again under the intense stare of Alice. She felt like she was trapped in a bear's den with a momma bear and her cub.

"It's my fault." Pyrrha said after a moment.

Alice looked up at her with a piercing gaze that cause Ruby and Jane to move between Alice and Pyrrha on instinct, Jane's hand even inched towards her greatsword on her back. "Explain. Now." Alice said, very clearly holding herself back. From what, Pyrrha shivered to imagine.

"He went to gather sap for baking. I caught him training last night when I went to retrieve my scroll I left in the shop, and we talked. I offered to help him with his training, and he we going to bake us pies as thanks. I missed his messages, and by the time I saw them he had already decided to go gather some himself." She explained. "If I hadn't agreed to train him, or had my scroll on me he wouldn't have been anywhere near the forest."

"You..." Alice started off, anger dripping from her voice. For the briefest moment, everyone in the ship expected a fight. Yang had even stood up from her seat. Everyone froze as Alice's head collided with the wall of the aircraft with a loud thud. "Ugh. My brother is such an idiot." She said, clearly still pissed off, ignoring the ringing in her head from her own attempts at calming herself down.

She stared through Pyrrha. "This is my brother's fault. He should know better, but I'll hear his side when he makes up. Let's hope it matches with yours." Alice threatened.

The rest of the trip had been in awkward silence as Alice continued to silently stared down at Jaune, but the fist clenched at her side revealed what she was truly thinking.

Pyrrha had been snapped from her memories when the door opened and the doctor walked through. Before Pyrrha could even stand, Alice was standing an inch from the doctor.

"How is he?" She demanded, visibly tense.

The old Doctor just smiled calmly. "The boy will be fine. He was incredibly lucky. No permanent damage, and his large amount of Aura will make his recovery go smoothly. He will be forced to recover here for a while. While he will recover, his wounds are very serious."

Pyrrha saw Alice's knees buckle a little from relief. "Can I see him?" She asked.

The doctor stared pleasantly, unflinching under her piercing gaze. "He has not regained consciousness yet, but he is back in his room. Room 550. Do not cause a commotion, he needs his rest." The doctor warned with the tone carrying the weight of someone who's lived through much. Even Alice gave a nervous nod.

The doctor stepped aside and Alice had vanished, a flurry of papers fluttering behind her as Pyrrha briefly saw her turn and head towards the room he was to be kept him. The doctor merely walked over to where Weiss was sitting. "We are to bill the Schnee Dust Company, is that correct?"

Weiss stood up, bowing her head respectfully. "Yes, the is correct. They will handle all the payments."

Ruby was grinning next to Weiss as Yang punched her in the shoulder. Even Blake smiled at her from her perch across the room, her book abandoned at her side.

Jane walked up and put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder comfortingly as Nora let out a cheer at the good news and Ren began cleaning up the mess that had been made while they all had waited.

The doctor smiled at them all. "I'm sure he will recover quite quickly with a loving sister and wonderful group of friends wishing him well. Do try to keep him from venturing in there alone again please? He was quite lucky this time but we doctors are a fickle bunch. We never like to see the same patient twice." He said with a smile and a wink before leaving the room.

Pyrrha lead the two teams to the room where Jaune was to be kept.

When they had reached it, they were met with a crowd of people. Alice was among a few other of what Pyrrha assumed to be Jaune's sisters of varying ages. And older woman and man stood in the hallway as the sisters piled into the room. Both teams stopped, feeling a bit awkward intruding on a family moment. The man noticed the group and walked over.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as the man approached. It was painfully obvious the man had been a hunter. A few faint scars adorned his face, and his frame was massive. He looked like he could arm wrestle and Ursa and win. "You!" He said in a gruff voice. "Pyrrha Nikos." He stormed forward, and the rest of her team and team RWBY took a step back.

"Y-Yes?" Pyrrha asked, a bit intimidated. She saw where Alice got her intensity from.

"You're the one who unlocked my sons Aura? You're the one who's going to train him?" He accused, raising one massive hand and pointing at her.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she began to raise her own in defense, before letting her arms drop to her side with a sigh as she lowered her head. "Yes, that was me. I'm sorry." She winced slightly, preparing for whatever punishment would be coming.

Her knees buckled a bit when she felt two massive weights on her shoulder as he dropped his hands on them. "Thank you!"

Pyrrha's eyes snapped up to him, seeing the massive man fighting back a few tears. "Thank you, Darling. You saved his life. He wouldn't have survived a hit if he didn't have the Aura in the beginning."

Pyrrha was a bit speechless. "I..." Before she could continue she felt something tight wrap around her as she was swept up into a bear hug. She was glad she had her Aura, or was she was pretty sure her spine would have just snapped.

"You saved my boy." A softer voice said as Pyrrha realized what she could assume to be Jaune's mom was currently hugging her. She stepped back, freeing Pyrrha and letting her breathe again.

"I'm sorry?" Pyrrha offered confused.

The woman just held onto her husband's arm with a smile, resting her head against him. "I'm sorry, we're just thankful. Most Arcs never have had a problem with using Aura, so we weren't exactly sure how we could help him. We hoped he would discover it some day, but we didn't know what we could do other than keep him safe. We know he wouldn't have survived if you hadn't helped him control his." She said.

Pyrrha just smiled and shook her head. "I'm glad I could have been of help. I may have been a little too forward with helping Jaune find his Aura, I merely wanted to help out a friend."

The mother nodded, wiping away a tear from her eye. "Thank you all. You saved our boy. It may not be much, but Arcs Metalworks is at your disposal for free for all your needs. All of you. We can never thank you enough."

The dad merely nodded, saying nothing but putting his arm around his wife.

"It's our pleasure! That's why we're training to be hunters and huntresses after all." Ruby offered with a grin.

The man nodded his head. "You all are well on your way. We'll be looking for you in the papers." He said.

The woman smiled. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have to do some more paperwork before he wakes up." She said, leading her husband towards the desk.

Team RWBY and JNPR made their way to Jaune's room, seeing some sisters standing around Jaune. Jaune was bandaged all over, and his arm was in a cast, but seemed to be resting.

Alice had noticed them, and soon JNPR and RWBY were being thanked again by the various sisters, and on behalf of the few who had been unable to make it there yet.

Once they were done with their thanks, most of the sisters had stepped out to give the two teams a chance to see Jaune and meet up with their parents, though Alice was still sitting in a chair next to Jaune's head, gently playing with his hair.

Pyrrha just stood next to Alice, nervously playing with her hands. She felt responsible for one of her friends ending up in a situation like this. She had only met Jaune fairly recently, but she knew she wanted to become better friends with him, and he almost died. "I'm sorry Jaune." She mumbled to herself. Perhaps, it would be better if she avoided meeting up with him again.

"Don't make my brother sad." Alice said suddenly, still staring at her brother, but talking to Pyrrha.

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha asked, confused as to whether or not she was actually being spoken to.

"My brother braved Forever Fall because of all you. He may be clumsy, headstrong, naive, and far too eager, but he's not an idiot. He knew how dangerous it was, but he still risked it for you guys, even if he thought he was being "safe". He cares about all of you. So be there for him, when I can't be." She said, glancing at Pyrrha. "If you make him cry, the next time your friends will be visiting you in here." She threatened, Pyrrha laughing a bit until she realized Alice didn't seem to be joking.

"A...Alice?" Jaune's weak voice suddenly said. In a moment, Alice was leaning over the bed, getting in his field of vision. Both teams of students jumped as the chair Alice had been sitting in slammed against the wall behind it with such force that the wall cracked. Pyrrha wondered just Alice's Semblance was that caused her to move things with such force.

"I'm here Jaune. I'm right here. Are you okay?" She asked, in a surprisingly gentle voice that Pyrrha was shocked to hear from the aggressive woman.

"Alice. You're here... again." Jaune mumbled weakly as he tried to sit up, before Alice gently pushed on his good shoulder to keep him on the bed.

"I'll always be here for you. Just rest for now. You're really got banged up this time."

Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief. "Again?" She asked a little cautiously.

Jaune's eyes shot over, surprised to see Pyrrha, and the rest of the students behind her. "Pyrrha! I didn't expect to see you all here." He said, still speaking a little slowly as he struggled to get used to being conscious again.

"Hello again." Pyrrha said with a small wave.

Jaune smiled, before coughing. He let out a pained gasp before leaning back into his pillow and closing his eyes. After a moment he opened them, greeted by concerned expressions on everyone in the room. He tried to smile reassuringly. "I'm fine. Everything just hurts a bit." He glanced over at Alice, who seemed to be split between concerned and angry.

Turning back to Pyrrha he smiled softly. "This isn't the first time I've ended up in a hospital. Every time I do, Alice is always right next to me when I wake up." He explained.

Alice just sighed. "I wish this didn't have to happen though." She mumbled, clearly upset but relieved at seeing Jaune awake at least.

"Why did you do this!" Pyrrha bursted out suddenly, before dropping her gaze to her hands. "Why did you go to such lengths and get so hurt?" She asked a little softer this time, trying to figure out what had happened.

Alice looked at Pyrrha out of the side of her eyes, before sighing. "She's right. What is wrong with you? You could have waited a day and we would have been there to escort you."

Jaune winced slightly. "Sorry. I know."

He tried to sit up again, before failing and collapsing onto the pillows, looking over to Alice for help. Alice helped him get into a slightly more propped up position, before retrieving her chair and sitting down.

"You said they were out of Sap?" Ruby prompted, a bit curious herself.

Jaune slowly reached for his drink, before Alice moved the straw close enough for him to take a sip.

Feeling his throat less parched, he started to explain.

"Yeah. I went to the shop for some sap. They were fresh out, and weren't supposed to get more in for a while. I wanted to make something for you guys before my family got here because things might be too busy." He offered.

Weiss nodded her head knowingly. "Family can definitely make things... complicated." She said.

Blake was the one to speak up next. "But why did you end up so far in the forest? All the trees have sap you know."

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "I know they do. The shop-keep who told me where I could find the sap explained that. But well, not all the sap is the same. Apparently, the older the tree, how much sun it can get, and how much water it can get all affects the taste of the sap. So, the locals who gather the sap..."

"Usually with an escort." Alice interrupted with a slight glare.

"Usually with an escort... mark the trees of the sap they take. They rate them based off the quality of the sap. I was looking for the highest rank I could find, while trying to stay close to the wall."

Ren nodded his head. "The wall does have guards positioned there to welcome and field visitors. The trees right near the wall would be rather safe, the grim avoid there due to the steady extermination of them in that area.

Jaune nodded his head. "Right, that's what was explained to me as well. I just... got a little carried away. I hadn't seen any grim, and it's easy to forget how far in the forest you have gone."

"Then why didn't you just run back when a Grimm showed up?" Jane asked, a bit concerned.

Jaune looked away, and Alice groaned. "He got lost."

Every stumbled for a second. "You forgot which way was Vale?" Pyrrha asked incredulously.

"All the trees look the same okay!" He defended himself.

"We need to put you on a leash." Alice mumbled to herself again. "The number of times you get lost. I'm surprised you haven't ended up in Atlas yet."

Jaune pouted slightly. "Besides! It's hard to focus when an Ursa is chasing you."

"Incredible." Weiss said, shaking her head.

Ruby poked her in the side. "To be fair, we both got lost during the team forming exercise."

Weiss looked flustered. "That was different! We were in the middle of the woods and looking for a temple."

Ruby just shook her head. "We got lost."

Jaune smiled, a bit reassured. "I tried to fight the Ursa since I only saw one and it was catching up."

Alice smirked a bit. Her brother was a fighter, even if he was outmatched.

"That didn't go well. I got maybe two slices in before my Aura broke. It smashed my arm, and my sword went flying and got stuck in a tree. So I ran again."

Pyrrha took a step from Alice, who seemed to be shaking at the recollection.

"Then your shield..." Ren started.

Jaune nodded. "I knew I was running out of time. I found the boulders and knew I could hid there, but I had to find a way to let someone know where I was, so I left my shield on the rocks on the off chance someone came looking they would see it and find me, before I climbed in the hole."

He coughed for a moment, before regaining his breath. "I was going to call for help on my scroll, but I kinda passed out before I could do it after climbing in the hole."

Pyrrha just let out a sigh, glad that ordeal was over. She had to admit it was an awful decision to go there in the first place, but he had at least handled it the best he could, given the turn of events.

Alice leaned over, hugging him gently. "I'm so glad you're okay Jaune."

Pulling back, Jaune shivered at the piercing glare coming from Alice.

"If you ever make me worry like that again..." She couldn't even form a threat.

"I think I'm going to play it safe for a while." He offered, letting out a yawn.

Pyrrha nodded, relieved to hear him say that. She knew that she wasn't going to forget to charge her scroll anytime soon after that incident.

Alice just let out a sigh, helping Jaune lay down again. "Well that's over, and won't be happening again. Mom and Dad are filling out paperwork with the rest of our sisters. They'll be back soon but you should get some sleep." She explained, shooting a glance at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha just nodded. "Rest is important in recovering. Please try and feel better soon! We'll celebrate after you're released." Pyrrha said with a smile, ushering her friends out of the room.

"Feel better soon Jaune!" Ruby said with a smile and wave as she led her team out of the hospital room.

Pyrrha lingered for a moment, making sure once again that he was okay before she left with her friends, seeing his family return and enter the room as they started to make their way back. Pyrrha looked around at her friends, and noticed they all started to yawn and droop, the exhaustion of their battle catching up to them after the adrenaline and worry in their system finally started to leave. Jaune wasn't the only one who needed rest at the moment. They had to wait as Mr. and Mrs. Arc hunted down Weiss to thank her for the Schnee's generosity, offering to pay them back but Weiss shook her head, not having any of it as she merely asked them to take care of Jaune.

As they made their way back to Beacon, Pyrrha had time to reflect. Regardless of the causes, she had been able to help save Jaune again. She hoped it was the last time she'd have to, but she saw a taste of her dream. She would be able to fight against the creatures of Grimm to save people, and some small part of her had hoped that maybe in the future, Jaune would be fighting along side her instead.

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Thank you for reading! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out. After receiving some critical feedback, I wanted to make sure I took them into consideration, and I wanted to be careful explaining some loose ends. I wanted to clarify Jaune's intentions from the start, and why he chose to do what he did. I'll keep an eye on the pace of the story in the future as well, but the next few chapters should be a nice break. Also, the last chapter was one I wanted to write since the beginning, but that sequence of events wasn't something that could fit in any later with the plan of my story, due to his venturing into the woods required his family not to be around which wouldn't make sense anymore due to their moving to Vale and delaying them or sending them away again felt like it would be just feel too forced. Regardless, even if you were disappointed in the last chapter, I hope I can continue to improve and you can continue to enjoy this chapter and I'm sorry to have disappointed you. I hope you all have a wonderful day!


	7. The Dinner

Pyrrha hummed happily as she practically skipped down the side the of street. It had been three weeks since the incident in the forest. She had been messaging with Jaune back and forth while he recovered, and even gone to visit him once more that first week while he was recovering, but she hadn't seen him in almost two weeks. The hospital released him to home care after two weeks in the hospital, and he had spent the last week resting up at home. Aura did wonders for recovery, but it still took some good ol' fashion R&R to recover.

Late last night Pyrrha had received a message from Jaune, asking her to bring all of her friends with her and visit tomorrow after classes, as both him and his parents wanted to say thanks to them properly now that he was finally up and about again. Pyrrha, and her friends were more than happy to accept the offer. So now they made their way to Arc's Metalworks again with a joyful spirit in the air.

They were all in a particularly good mood as they chatted happily, walking down the streets in a bit of a mob.

As they approached the shop, Pyrrha noticed a sign on the door. Irrationally, Pyrrha felt a fear grip her heart. Jaune wouldn't do anything stupid again right? Pyrrha tried to keep her cool, but after a moment ran towards the door to read the sign. She stared at it a bit confused.

 _We'll be closing early tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience._

Pyrrha just stared at it blankly. They had been told to come over around this time, but they were closed? Everything was fine right?

She was about to turn back to her friends when the door opened.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune's voice rang out.

Pyrrha's head snapped back to the door, a massive grin bursting onto her face.

Jaune offered her his usual goofy smile. "Good to see you again Pyrrha."

A flood of relief washed over Pyrrha. The last time she had seen him he was still stuck in a hospital bed, and here he stood in front of her, albeit looking a little worse for wear. Pyrrha stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight hug, taking a deep breath. "I'm so glad you're okay." She said, before stepping back. Both Pyrrha and Jaune wore matching blushes as Yang approached, slapping Pyrrha on the shoulder.

"Maybe we should leave you two alone tonight?"

"Yang!" Pyrrha protested as she shook her head. She was just glad to see her friend okay and on his feet again. Totally.

Nora snickered as Blake hit Yang in the side. "Be nice." She scolded, fighting back a smirk.

Jaune just scratched the back of his head. "I'm glad to be back on my feet."

The door to the shop opened more as Jaune's mother walked through the door. "You're all here! Welcome! Jaune, stop blocking the door, come in come in!" She said in a warm voice as she rested a hand on Jaune's shoulder, gently pulling him out of the way so the two teams could enter the shop.

Everyone was floored by the smell inside the shop. The usual smell of dust, a forge, and hard labor was replaced by a heavenly mixture of different foods.

"I hope you guys have room for dinner! We wanted to surprise you and we hoped this would be early enough." His mom explained.

The 8 students nodded their head vigorously. They hadn't had dinner yet, and even if they had judging by the smells from the kitchen they would find a way to try that food.

In the center of the shop the chairs had been pushed to the side, and two massive tables were set up with chairs around them and a 10 sets of plates had been set up.

"Feel free to take a seat! The food will be here any moment. The kitchen in the shop is very basic, mostly here for snacks and simple meals during long work days, so we prepared most of the food at home. My husband and daughter will be here any moment with it. I think you're in for a treat." She explained in a singsong voice as she fluttered around, adjusting the table slightly, offering people drinks.

"Here, let me help." Ren offered as both Ren and Jane began assisting Jaune's mother in setting the table. Blake and Yang warmed themselves by the fire as Ruby and Nora started gushing about how well the food smelled. Weiss thanked the mother again before sitting down properly, as Pyrrha hung around Jaune, watching him as he did some finishing touches on some food in the back.

"This all smells very nice." She offered as he worked.

Jaune smiled. "Well dinner time has always been a bit of an event with a family as big as ours was. We've gotten pretty good at it over the years. Besides, this is the best way my parents know how to show gratitude."

"I'm looking forward to it." Pyrrha said with a smile. Her stomach growled slightly and she blushed a little. "Really looking forward to it."

Jaune just laughed. "Soon!"

"They're here!" Jaune's mother said as she saw her husband walking with Alice as they carefully balanced boxes and plates of food."

"Jaune, take this." Alice said offering him a plate.

Jaune nodded, quickly taking it from her grasp as she began to set the boxes and plates down. "Is this the fish?" He asked curiously. Blake's head snapped to attention at word fish as she hunched down a little, stalking towards it.

Alice nodded. "Yeah, you seemed to have nailed the seasoning this time to from the smell of it. Here, hand it back."

Jaune took a step forward, when his foot caught on crescent rose, which had been resting near the door when the teams deposited their weapons they had brought with them out of habit.

The fish began to fall out of his hand as he braced for impact.

There were two blurs of movement, almost faster than the eye could see as Jaune felt a little choked, but found himself being held up by the hood on his hoodie as Alice had caught it with her free hand, still balancing two boxes of food. "You never change." She mumbled with a small smile. She had been catching him after he tripped for years now, she had a sort of sixth sense for when it was going to happen.

"Thanks Alice. The fish..." He started off, realizing his hands were empty.

"It's safe." Came a determined voice next to him. Blake was standing next to him, cradling the plate gently, a wild determined look in her eyes.

Ruby leaned over to Weiss. "I've never seen her move like that. She kicked off the ceiling..."

Weiss shook her head. "She used her semblance twice to cover more ground I think..." She countered.

Jaune's mother just smiled and clapped once. "You're very fast!" She said appreciatively. "I remember when I was young and full of energy like that too. It was so fun to chase down Grimm and destroy every part of them. They always tried to flee after a while and it never worked." She reminisced in a sickly sweet voice.

"You made our missions looking after you more than looking out for Grimm." The husband said with a hearty laugh.

Pyrrha looked over the woman, a pleasant woman in a sundress and an apron that said "Home is where the heart is." She seemed like the kind of mother that could ease any child's worry with a few words and a plate of cookies, and Pyrrha realized she might be the scariest one of the family. Clearly Alice didn't far too far from the tree. Suddenly, Pyrrha felt extremely grateful that she had the mother's approval.

Alice helped Jaune back to his feet, ruffling his hair up before finishing setting up the plates of food.

Blake set down the fish gently, though Jaune swore he heard her mumble "Soon."

Soon enough the plates were all set, the smell of heavenly bliss was dancing through the air and all the students were sitting eagerly in their seats, ready to the try the food that had been teasing them for a while now.

When they were all seated, they realized they were missing two seats, leaving Jane and Ren standing next to the parents, as they gestured for the parents to sit down.

Jaune's parents just laughed. "Well aren't you two just the sweetest things?" His mother said with a smile as his father dropped a massive hand on Ren's shoulder, making his knee's buckle a bit.

"This here feast is for you. We figure you guys will have more fun on your own so we're going to head on out for the night." The dad explained.

"You just want an excuse to have a date night since you don't have to worry about your kids for once." Alice muttered, leaning back in her chair and sipping her drink.

Jaune's mom ignored her and smiled at the students. "Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts. The entire Arc family owes you a massive debt for saving our son. You went so far out of your way for him and I don't think I can properly express my gratitude."

Jaune just looked down, a bit ashamed at having been the cause of such trouble in the first place.

"It's no problem!" Ruby said after a moment, grinning. "We're friends after all."

"Grimm are no problem when we're all working together." Yang added, confidently.

"We know how dangerous it can be to encounter grimm when not properly prepared." Ren added after a moment, glancing at Nora who nodded.

Pyrrha nodded her head, resting her hand on Jaune's shoulder reassuringly. "We all need help sometimes. We were just glad to be there for you when you needed us. We didn't do it for food."

"But we'll take it!" Blake added quickly, her hands inching towards the massive fish that was on the table in front of her, that she hadn't broken eye contact with for a few minutes now.

"Thank you all. Eat now! Eat up! We'll be going now. If you would like any repairs done leave them here and Jaune will get that all sorted. I'll have them looking better than new in no time." He said with a prideful grin.

Moments later Mr. and Mrs. Arc were out of the store, off on their own for a date night.

"You aren't going with them?" Jaune asked Alice as he started to eat a piece of garlic bread.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "I'm not tagging along with mom and dad, and I'm not baby sitting our sisters either. That's the job of the second oldest. Are you saying you don't want me here? You got new friends and suddenly you're too good for your closest sister?" She asked challenging.

Jaune's eyes widened as he shook his hands back and forth. "No! That's not what I meant! I was just wondering." He said in a panic.

Alice just laughed, flicking an olive at him. "I know, I know. I'm just giving you a hard time."

Pyrrha and Yang were laughing at the exchange, watching Jaune get flustered.

Blake was devouring the fish at such a rate, it made the rest of them feel a little scared to attempt to take any.

As the time passed, they were all chatting idly again, learning more about the Arc family and getting to know their two new friends.

"Jaune sure has bad luck though. First we meet him getting robbed at gun point, then we have to rescue him from some Grimm."

Alice's fork dropped from her hand to the plate, the clatter causing all the conversation in the room to grind to a halt as everyone stared at Yang accusingly.

"What was that?" Alice asked dangerously.

Yang started to sweat a bit, realizing that apparently Jaune hadn't told his sister about the accident. Also that she was now the sole focus of a very angry, and very protective older sister. "I uhh... there may have been an incident when we first met him."

Alice slowly turned to look at Jaune.

"What is she talking about?" She asked in a eerily calm voice.

"It's no big deal. It's just something that happens in big cities..."

" _Jaune Arc. What happened."_ Her voice was cold and dangerous.

Pyrrha could see Jaune's body tense and begin to sweat under the glare. Clearly this wasn't the first time his sister had taken a cold tone to him.

"A few guys tried to rob us back when Dad first visited you to prepare the move. Pyrrha and them happened to be coming by when it was happening. I was going to just give them what they wanted but I didn't have access to the vault and they were getting angry..." He spilled immediately.

"Who. Were. They." Alice asked.

Jaune shook his head. "I don't know! I'd never seen them before. Not customers or anything."

"Those goons all look the same anyway." She remarked, before clasping her hand over her mouth. That might have been too much information.

Alice didn't miss that though. "Yang. Care to share with the class what you know?"

Ruby threw a roll at her sister's head. "Why can't you just shut up!"

"They were arrested." Yang said with a nervous smile, trying to brush it off.

"Yang!" Alice said suddenly, slamming her hand down on the table. Plates shifted as those sitting near her grabbed their drinks to prevent spilling.

"We need this table..." Jaune muttered, eying a crack in the wood.

Alice stood up. "Last chance."

Yang stared at her for a moment, and realized this was a game of chicken she did not feel like playing. Partially because she knew what she would do if she found out her sister had been held at gun point. Especially before she learned to fight. "They work at a nightclub downtown." She said, explaining which one a little better.

Alice smiled. "Thanks hun." She moved to the back of the store, pulling out her scroll.

Jaune's head dropped to his hands. "Well there she goes."

Pyrrha patted Jaune's back reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Jaune shook his head. "I'm not worried about her."

Alice walked back to the front of the store a few minutes later, in full combat gear with her weapon strapped to her back. "... Yeah. Demi, that's the one. Meet me there in a few? Perfect."

Jaune groaned. "You told Demi?"

Alice shrugged. "She'd be angry if I didn't. Third oldest is in charge now."

Jaune sighed.

Pyrrha leaned over. "Demi's the second oldest right?"

Jaune nodded his head. "Yeah. She's a lot calmer than Alice but she really enjoys fighting. She loves the thrill of it. She'll take any excuse, and she's fought for a lot less than this."

"Dad's going to be mad." Jaune offered to Alice.

Alice pulled out her scroll dialing one more number. "Dad? Yeah, everything is fine. Did you know Jaune was robbed while you wer- Yeah I know. Stop yelling. Already on it. It might cause some troubl- You'll take care of it? Good. I'll call you after. Sorry to interrupt your date." She said, hanging up the call. She stuck her tongue out at Jaune.

Jaune just sighed. "Be safe? Please?"

Alice just nodded. "Of course. Have fun with the rest of dinner. Make sure to clean up afterward, we don't need ants or rats in here." She turned to Yang, winking at her with a dangerous smirk. "Thanks for the tip."

With that she was gone as she took off running.

"Will she be okay?"

Jaune just smiled wryly to Pyrrha. "Alice is the strongest person I know. Demi is backing her up, I seriously doubt there a group in Vale that can take them. Short of my parents in their prime, they're the best the Arc family has to offer. They definitely live up to our legacy." He said, a slight longing in his tone. His eyes widened after a moment. "Not that the rest of my sisters aren't amazing, even the ones who aren't fighters."

Pyrrha just smiled and nodded. "I understand. It seems good that you have such strong role models. Though Alice is a bit..."

"Rash? Dangerous? Scary?" Jaune offered with a slight laugh. "She's a good person, even if a bit intense. I know she can be a bit aggressive but she really does care for everyone. Just not those who are an enemy..." Jaune said with a bit of a nervous laughter.

Pyrrha was about to reply when she heard a loud belch.

Everyone's eyes snapped to Blake, who was leaning back in her chair, covering her mouth with a wide eyed expression. Remains of half of the massive fish were piled up on her plate. "Excuse me."

Yang just burst out laughing, which caused the rest of the group to follow suit as the tension in the air dissolved.

A little later everyone was pushing their plates forward, done with their meal. "That was delicious." Pyrrha offered.

"That was sooooo good." Nora said enthusiastically, despite feeling lethargic from all the food in her system.

Everyone agreed, and soon Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha were picking up and washing the dishes, while yang Blake and Jane were collapsing the tables and slowly returning the store to it's normal state.

"Thanks for helping me clean up, you know you don't need to."

"It's no trouble." Pyrrha said.

"Dad would kill us if we let you do all the work." Ruby said as she moved the trash bag to the back of the store to the dumpster.

Before long the store was back to it's original state, as they all sat around in chairs chatting amongst themselves. They were glad their homework load was light because it meant they could afford to spend time relaxing instead of being in a rush to get back.

"I don't think I could eat another bite." Yang said as all the food settled.

Jaune looked disappointed. "Oh, so you guys don't want this pie?" He said, fetching a pie out of the oven.

"We'll have it!" Nora and Ruby said suddenly, standing up as they went to get the clean plates and forks.

"I suppose I can find room for it." Yang said, realizing she had to try that pie whatever the cost.

"I'm glad to hear it! I finally got to try baking with fresh Sap from Forever Fall." He said idly.

Everyone stopped at stared at him.

Jaune looked shocked. "What?"

"You went back there?" Pyrrha asked incredulously.

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "I mean yeah, it was a bit weird but Grimm attacks happen. I've seen them happen most of my life, even if I wasn't directly involved. I cant live in fear of beyond the walls, otherwise the Grimm really did win." He said honestly.

Pyrrha just stared at him, lost in thought.

"Besides, this time Alice was with me. And Demi. And my parents. I haven't seen them with their weapons in a while. We didn't even see a Grimm the entire time." He explained.

Everyone else glanced at someone else. They had a feeling there had been plenty of Grimm in the area before the Arc family showed up. Forever fall was probably going to be relatively safe for a while.

Jaune just smiled unknowingly. "Anyway, enough with the serious stuff. I don't want all this work to go to waste!" He said with a smile.

Before long, they were all finishing up their deserts.

"We need to do an extra workout after this." Yang said, patting her stomach. "Your family isn't good for staying in top shape, Jaune." She teased.

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, we get that a lot. There's a reason my parents always encouraged us to properly exercise."

Pyrrha just smiled. "That'll be good for when we start up your training."

Jaune's eyes widened. "We're still doing that?"

Pyrrha looked at him confused. "Did you not want to? I assumed you did..."

Jaune nodded vigorously. "Of course I do! I just thought you might have called it off after the incident."

Pyrrha shook her head. "Of course not! We just need to make sure you're properly recovered before we begin."

Jaune was grinning like a kid. "Yes!" He cheered excitedly, making Pyrrha giggle.

"Jaune! You got a message." Ruby said, offering Jaune his scroll which had buzzed on the counter near where she was chatting to Weiss.

Jaune opened it up, noticing it was from Alice. He just stared blankly at the screen, before sighing.

"What?" Pyrrha asked curiously, as Jaune showed her his scroll.

On the screen was a picture of Alice and Demi posing with the peace sign. Looking behind them, Pyrrha could vaguely make out the shapes of unconscious bodies that looked like the men who had robbed Jaune. It seemed to have been taken in some sort of club.

"Oooo is that a picture?" Yang said, butting and looking at the scroll. She whistled appreciatively. "And I thought I trashed the place..." She thought for a moment. "Here, let's send her one back. Everyone, get over here!" Yang ordered as she began pulling everyone close together. "Jaune, set the timer." She said, as she glanced at Pyrrha and got a wicked idea.

As Jaune set the timer and everyone, albeit some slightly unwillingly, posed together she pulled Jaune back into the frame. Weiss was reluctant as Nora was practically spilling over Ren. Blake was going to flee but Yang held her firmly in place, not letting her escape as Ruby threw up a peace sign.

Right before the flash was going to go off, Yang suddenly nudged Pyrrha. "Scoot over so we can all fit!" She said, as she intentionally tripped Pyrrha a bit.

Pyrrha stumbled, being forced onto Jaune since they were in the middle of the crowd as she caught herself on his chest, as he reached an arm out to steady her as the flash went off.

Yang was the first to the scroll, cackling at the result as it looked like Pyrrha was being held by Jaune in an embrace.

Jaune and Pyrrha both blushed, but before they could protest Yang had sent the photo. Jaune reached for the scroll, but Yang held up a finger. "Wait... and... there." She said, handing back the scroll.

A moment later everyone's scroll buzzed as they all got a copy of the picture.

"Yang!" Pyrrha scolded her, chasing her slightly around the shop.

Jaune just looked at the picture, smiling. Most of his life he had spent around his sisters, which he loved to death, but he knew he was going to cherish that photo for the rest of his life.

He tilted his head as his scroll buzzed again, a reply from Alice. His face flushed red, making Yang look curiously at him, still holding off Pyrrha. "What did she say?"

"No." Jaune said, quickly hiding his scroll.

"Come on... share!" Yang said teasingly.

"No!" Jaune repeated, glaring at her from behind his blush. His glare had a hint of the danger Alice's always held.

Yang just shook her head. "Fine fine. Be that way." Yang said with a smirk. "You're welcome."

Jaune stared at her for a moment, looking away with a small smile. "Thanks."

A few minutes later and all of them were starting to yawn. "Okay, we should head back soon. It's getting late." Ruby offered.

Jaune nodded. "Thank you all again. I really appreciate it. Are you sure Nora is the only one who wanted a tune up? It's free of course."

They all nodded. "We're still good, we'll take you up on your offer later." Yang answered.

"You should all stop by again." He said a bit nervously.

Ruby and Jane looked at each other, before nodding. "Of course!"

Jaune disappeared for a moment, before handing each of them a box. "Can't let you leave empty handed."

Ruby's and Jane's eyes lit up in sync. "Thank you!" They said, before they waved once more and turned to leave.

Pyrrha lagged behind a bit. "Thanks again Jaune. I'm really glad to see you up and on your feet again."

Smiling nervously, Jaune spoke. "It's only thanks to you guys. I really appreciate it. I'm glad I met you all. I think it makes everything worth it."

Shaking her head, Pyrrha just smiled. "Well, let's try to avoid such dangerous encounters again, okay? At least until you have more training under your belt."

"I agree with that. I think I'll be ready to start training in two weeks." Jaune offered.

"Sounds perfect. We'll start simple anyway so it will be good physical therapy to get you back into top shape before we get to the difficult stuff." Pyrrha explained with a nod.

Jaune beamed. "I can't wait."

Pyrrha nodded, hugging Jaune briefly before stepping back. "I'm glad you're safe. See you later!" She said, waving goodbye and running to catch up with her friends. Jaune was back on his feet, and she had finally had the chance to learn more about him. There was a lot she was still unsure about, but she knew she wanted to know more. As she caught up to her friends, she strayed back a bit, pulling out her scroll and looking at the photo Yang had set up. Smiling down at it, she definitely wanted to know more.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you reading this chapter! I hope you could enjoy this one a little more. A lot of the feedback for the past two chapters has been pretty critical so I'm sorry that I seem to be letting a few of you down. I admit the reason I gave for his lack of Aura was a little weak, and I actually went back and updated it. I normally don't change stuff I've written, aside from typos etc. but I wasn't too happy with it either. To try and explain my problem, was we never actually know the reason Jaune never knew about Aura, if his father and his grandfather all were great warriors. It made perfect sense as a way to explain to viewers what Aura was, and Jaune was a character who was new to the huntsmen world, but since we weren't given one in the show, short of completely ignoring why he didn't have Aura, my hands were tied with guessing at a reason. That said, the reason I changed it to is what I'll stick with, even if it's not the best. I'm trying to be more aware of the pace of the story, and I'm sorry it's not taking the turns, or themes some of you hope for. I merely hope you continue to find it interesting enough to read, and I'll keep writing. I'll try to keep a decent pace of two to three chapters a week, though as we approach the holidays it may slow down a bit. I hope you all have a wonderful day and a wonderful Christmas/holiday season!


	8. The Workout

Pyrrha wrapped her self tighter in her hoodie as she walked down the street, beating the sun to Jaune's place. It was bright and early in the morning, and Pyrrha couldn't express how excited she was to start training with Jaune. Aside from the fact she finally found someone she could convince to work out with her in the morning, she was glad she found an opportunity to hang out with Jaune more regularly.

They had decided to meet at the shop, Jaune explaining that his home was even further away from her dorm, plus he could open it for the morning after their practice was done and they could train inside as well if it was too cold.

When Pyrrha turned the corner, she saw Jaune leaning against the shop door. He was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, and she saw him let out a massive yawn. She grinned, and jogged up to him.

"Hello again!" She said cheerfully.

"Hey Pyrrha" He replied through a yawn. He pushed off the door, wiping a tear from his eye due to his yawn before he grinned. "So what's first?" He asked.

Pyrrha paused for a moment, looking him over. "First things first. How are you feeling? You were bedridden in the hospital not too long ago. Proper recovery is the most important thing."

Hitting his chest with a fist, Jaune grinned. "I feel perfect! If anything, the lack of physical exercise recently means I'm feeling a little sluggish. My dad and sister wouldn't even let me do the heavy work in the shop."

Pyrrha stared at him for a moment, evaluating his explanation. "Promise?"

"Promise!" Jaune swore with a scout's salute.

Rolling her eyes, Pyrrha smiled. "Okay."

"What first then?" Jaune asked with a bit of a smirk.

"First we stretch. Then we run."

Jaune nodded, though his smile faltered a bit. "Cardio... fun."

Offering a comforting smile, Pyrrha explained. "I know it's not much fun, but regardless of how you feel your body isn't accustomed to an overbearing work out. We'll start off simple and work our way up."

Jaune nodded his head. "That's fair, you're the teacher after all." He replied with a smirk.

"Can you get into the shop? It's warming up so it might be better to ditch our sweatshirts." She asked, pulling her sweatshirt over her head.

Pulling out his keys, Jaune nodded and turned to unlock the door. After opening it and stepping in, he turned, nearly dropping his keys in surprise.

Pyrrha was currently bent over as she stepped out of her sweatpants, leaving her in comfortable running shorts. She hadn't expected it to warm up so quickly so she figured she might as well leave her sweats at the shop as well. She looked up, tilting her head slightly in confusion at Jaune's flustered appearance as he was looking up and away. "Jaune?"

"That's a good idea." He replied, still not meeting her eyes as he stepped into the shop. He reached back and pulled his hoodie over his head, his shirt catching on it a little as it pulled up with the hoodie, flashing Pyrrha his chest.

Raising an eyebrow, Pyrrha was a bit impressed. Jaune's physique was definitely better than she would have guessed. His abs were certainly praise worthy in her mind. He might not be as muscular as some of the other hunters in the school, but his comment about his family pushing healthy exercise wasn't all talk.

As Jaune pulled his shirt free and removed his hoodie, Pyrrha's eyes snapped back to his face. "Ready?"

Tossing his sweatshirt to the side, he thought for a moment. "One second." He said as he disappeared into one of the rooms in the back of the shop. He returned a moment later, wearing gym shorts instead of his sweatpants. "Still have these here. Let's go." He said as he lead her outside, locking up the store.

"So what are we doing. 3, 4 miles?" Jaune inquired.

"6!" Pyrrha said cheerfully, smirking at Jaune's blank stare. "Too much?"

Jaune shook his head meekly. "No, that's fine. I just thought we were starting easy."

Tilting her head curiously, Pyrrha smiled. "We are. Usually we run 8 in order to still have energy left for other training. I guess we can cut it down to 4 today..."

Shaking his head Jaune waved his hands. "No, no! 6 is fine. I'll do it!" He said with a determined voice.

Nodding approvingly, Pyrrha turned. "We'll go slow. Follow me, I already figured out a path." She explained, taking off at a leisurely run.

Running after her, Jaune realized their idea of "going slow" might be a little different. Still, he wasn't going to start complaining given the situation he was in.

They couldn't really chat much while running, but Pyrrha kept checking to make sure she wasn't pushing Jaune to hard. Every once in a while, when she noticed Jaune starting to struggle a bit, she'd slow her pace, or relax to a walk to let him catch his breath. This was mostly just her intuition, but she had a feeling Jaune wouldn't exactly be happy to admit that he wasn't able to keep up with her. Attempting to preempt him over exerting himself, she decided to be a little gentle for today at least.

Pyrrha had to admit though, Jaune definitely was doing better than she had expected. It wasn't just his physique, but his stamina wasn't that bad either. Pyrrha had half expected to have to end their run early, giving them a lofty goal in order to see what Jaune's limits were so she could adjust her plan to match them, but he seemed to be managing.

A while later, they finally wound up back at Arc's Metalworks. Jaune leaned against the door, wiping sweat from his forehead as he struggled to catch his breath. He was at his limit.

Pyrrha just smiled, catching her own breath. "That was very impressive!" She said while clapping her hands together once. "I wasn't sure you could keep up with me for that run, but you did great!"

Jaune just gave her a thumbs up as he tried to remember what it was like to breathe normally again.

Holding back a smile Pyrrha was patient. Once he seemed to be a bit more composed, she stepped back. "Okay, follow my lead now. We need to stretch properly after our run." She explained, beginning to stretch as she had Jaune mimic her.

A few minutes later, and a few restrained laughs at Jaune's inflexibility, they were done stretching. They both seemed to be back to normal, so Pyrrha stood up. "Could we do the rest in the shop?" She asked, stretching her back.

Nodding his head, Jaune unlocked the door. "Sure." He lead her in, getting them both some water while Pyrrha went to the back room where she saw Jaune practicing before.

Thanking him for the glass of water, she took a sip before she grinned. "Now some strength training."

Jaune nodded nervously. He had a feeling he was once again going to figure out just how far behind Pyrrha he was.

As they worked through the basics like Push-ups and sit-ups, Pyrrha admired Jaune's dedication. It was obvious that he was still behind her by quite a bit, but he didn't complain much. He'd do what she said with little protest, and Pyrrha knew it was on her to judge how far to push him. She figured he'd pass out before he'd ask her to stop. That made her both impressed, and a bit concerned. His eagerness to train with her was clear, but she didn't want him to get ahead of himself.

Some little while later, they both stopped. Jaune was laying spread eagle on the ground, trying to catch her breath while Pyrrha stood off to the side, wiping her sweat on a towel as she sipped some water. "Well this was a very productive first training session." She said, proud of Jaune. Just how hard he was working was glaringly obvious. He seemed to be putting in more effort than some of the other students at the academy. Then again, this was just the first day so she had to see if he would commit to this level of effort, but Pyrrha's gut was telling her he would. "I hope today was okay." Pyrrha admitted, a bit self conscious. Again, she wasn't used to teaching others. Most of her life was spent receiving lessons, or training on her own. She hadn't been in a position to teach someone one on one before, nor did she think she would have necessarily preferred to. Jaune though, she found refreshing. Sure her teammates and friends at Beacon treated her normally, for the most part seeing her as just another friend, but meeting someone who wasn't in the same situation as her yet felt the same was valuable. He was more concerned about her well being as a friend, rather than as an idol.

Jaune sat up quickly, about to speak before he covered his mouth with his hand, looking concerned for a moment before he took a deep breath. He figured throwing up in front of his teacher wouldn't be the most reassuring thing in the world at the moment. "It was great! Aside from the rare times I could convince Alice to help me, I've always been working out alone so working out with a friend was great. Plus, I realize now different it is when you are properly working out." He admitted a bit nervously. "Besides, you're a lot more... pleasant to learn from than Alice. She can be a bit... intimidating."

Nodding grimly, Pyrrha could hazard a guess at what he meant. She had seen first hand how Alice could get, so she figured that if she was pushing someone in a workout, even her little brother wouldn't be safe from her.

As Pyrrha began to gather her stuff, Jaune let out a sigh. Turning with a tilt of her head, Pyrrha wondered why he had sounded disappointed. Did she do something wrong?

"I see you didn't bring your weapons." Jaune said, a bit nervously. "That makes sense..." He said after a moment, looking at the ground. "Yeah..." He mumbled to himself, realizing he must have gotten ahead of himself.

Pyrrha stared at him for a moment, attempting to decrypt his disappointment. Her weapons? A light bulb went off in her head as she realized why he was bummed. Being a hunter didn't just mean having a strong body and good cardiovascular health, he wanted to learn to fight. Of course.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Apologized Pyrrha suddenly. "I wasn't sure how good of a condition you would be in today, so I left them at home."

Jaune smiled a bit meekly. "It's okay! I understand. Really, thank you for putting in so much effort to help me in the first place, I'm incredibly grateful."

Pyrrha just shook her head and smiled. "It's not over yet." She said with a smirk. Looking around the shop she thought for a moment. She had planned on starting this the second lesson, but she had severely underestimated his condition. "Do you have any spare weapons around here? Perhaps a sword and shield of any kind?" She asked. Surely not a customer's weapon, but it wouldn't be too strange for them to have other weaponry right?

Jaune beamed. "Of course!" He said, stumbling a bit as he ran to the back of the shop.

"Don't run with a sword indoors." She called out, laughing a bit at his eagerness again.

Jaune returned, holding out what he found. It was a simple basic short sword, and a basic round shield.

Expecting them to be off balance, Pyrrha was impressed to see that they seemed to be balanced.

"Is the balance okay? We had a few from practicing forging, and to give people stuff to try out if they are attempting to have use make a weapon for them."

Nodding, Pyrrha gave it a few test swings. "Very nice. Now stand next to me. Before we get into any sort of serious training or sparring, we need to start with the basics." She said, expecting disappointment, but she wouldn't budge on being a proper teacher if she was taking on the role.

Instead, she found an understanding nod from Jaune. "Of course! I understand. The books sai... I heard that is always the case." He started off, blushing a bit.

Pyrrha realized, he must have read a bunch of books that you could always find on "How to be a Hunter." Smiling warmly, a bit amused at the thought she decided to keep quiet and let him continue.

"Besides, I couldn't imagine even facing you with a sword. I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time." He offered, a bit guilty. "Besides I'd be afraid I'd hurt you." He explained honestly, before pausing and waving his hands back and forth. "Not that I thought I could! I mean, you're Pyrrha Nikos! I could never land a blow on you. It's just though, sometimes I'm clumsy and accidents happen and if I wasn't careful, I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt you and..."

Pyrrha noticed he was starting to ramble, and gently rested a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune! It's okay." She interrupted. "This isn't wasting my time. Teaching other makes me be very critical of what I know and helps me improve. It's very sweet that you're worried about hurting me, and it's good to be aware. No matter how skilled we may grow, we're all human and make mistakes. It is always important to be careful, and no go wandering into dangerous woods, so to speak." She teased, a playful twinkle in her eyes. "Besides, me being 'Pyrrha Nikos' doesn't mean anything, I can still get hurt if I'm not careful. Everyone can learn and grow, just because I have more experience than you doesn't mean that you can't become even better than me some day. Please don't treat me like I'm something else."

Nodding slightly, Jaune listened to her intently. The ending revealed just how deeply the issue seemed to bother her, but Jaune had to admit he didn't fully understand it. Not everyone was a champion multiple times over, but he understood the basics of what she meant. "I understand." He said with a nod.

Pyrrha decided to leave it at that as she motioned for him to grab his weapons that were resting in the corner. "Now let's get started with the final stretch."

Jaune grinned and quickly grabbed his weapons. He stood next to her, watching her intently.

"Now, this may seem obvious but we're going to start from the ground and work our way up. Everything fancy or special in life has it's roots in something simple. Watch me first, then try to mimic me." She started off, before showing him a simple three swing combo. It was simple, slow, but clean.

Watching in awe, Jaune was impressed by how she made such a simple action seem so graceful, so clean. Steeling his nerves, he made his own attempt at the moves, before nervously glancing at Pyrrha. He was a bit taken aback by her intense gaze.

"Not quite." She said before stepping forward. "Get into your first position." She ordered.

As Jaune listened, he felt her hands gently touch his shoulder and outside of his thigh as she moved them into place. He blushed slightly, but focused on paying attention to what she was teaching. He refused to waste the time she was so generously giving him. Her small corrections felt miniscule but it was startling how much of a different he noticed. Different muscles were stressed, his balance was different, and he felt a different power in the swing.

"Good. Now the next one." Pyrrha said, watching him closely again. This repeated a few times, with Pyrrha pausing to show him an example once or twice, before she went back to correcting every step.

After moving his foot into position yet again he let out a sigh, letting his arms drop as he looked down.

"I'm sorry. This must be getting frustrating for you." He said, looking a bit defeated. "I keep making the same mistakes."

Pyrrha smiled softly, resting her hand on his shoulder again. "Jaune, it's okay. I completely understand. We all make them. I may be pushing you pretty hard about being perfect, but it's because I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did. It can be extremely hard to unlearn poor habits you learn, so I would rather fix them now rather than later." She explained. "You're doing nothing wrong." Pyrrha reaffirmed, smiling at seeing Jaune's shoulder's rise with his spirit. "Now, let's start over. First position... better! But this leg is still a little too far out. Lower your left shoulder as well." She explained as she stepped behind him, reaching forward to adjust his leg and shoulder at the same time.

"Well now. I thought you would be helping my brother train, not feeling him up." Alice's voice came from the doorway.

Both Pyrrha and Jaune jumped out of surprise, as Jaune's sword and hers, as well as a few different pieces of metal all flew out of their respective locations, flying and impaling themselves into the ceiling. Pyrrha had been focusing so intently on getting his positioning just right, she had failed to notice Alice watching them.

Alice burst out laughing at her reaction, amused by seeing her semblance activating in her panic. A relatively harmless result considering the possibilities of polarity and swords. Alice didn't blame her, her own had accidentally gone off once or twice with rather bad results as well when surprised. There was a reason Jaune never snuck up on her anymore.

"Alice!" Jaune exclaimed surprised.

"Alice! I wasn't... I was..." Pyrrha started, finally realizing what she said.

Alice just continued to double over laughing, waving her hand to brush off her concerns. "I'm kidding. It's fine. You two are so cute." She said, finally managing to catch her breath after another few minutes of laughing. They hadn't responded to her entering the shop, and when she found them they were focusing so hard she couldn't help but have a little fun.

Ignoring the embarrassed look of Pyrrha, and slightly annoyed look of her brother, she walked into the room.

"You're lucky Jaune, she seems like a very good teacher. She certainly knows her stuff. Maybe she really can whip you into shape." Alice said approvingly. Spinning a bit on her heel she looked at Pyrrha. "You're still leagues behind me. Though, maybe we should test it some time." Alice said after a moment, a dangerous smirk on her face.

Pyrrha's eyes widened a bit at the challenge. She nodded her head. "I would love to spar against a huntress I imagine I could learn a lot from just one fight."

Jaune shook his head. "No! No way. Absolutely not. Pyrrha is too nice Alice. You can't fight her." He said in a panic. "I don't want her to stop talking to me."

Alice just laughed, messing with his hair. "Oh relax. I know she's nice, I'll take it easy on her. Someday it's going to happen though. I'll make sure to teach her a thing or two."

The hint in her voice sent a shiver down Pyrrha's spine. She had a feeling when the fight happened, she might prefer the company of grimm instead. "I look forward to it." She said.

Noticing a clock, Pyrrha realized how late it had gotten. "I think that's enough for today. We did far more than I expected."

Jaune nodded, taking a deep breath as he felt exhaustion starting to sink in. "Thank you for giving me so much of your time."

Pyrrha just smiled. "My pleasure. Make sure to practice the basics this week. I expect our run to go even smoother next week." She taunted with a challenging tone.

Nodding with determination, Jaune smiled. "Of course!"

Pyrrha thought for a moment. "I'll have to talk to Ozpin. He may let us use Beacon's gym for our practice in the morning. It's relatively unused so early in the morning, so I don't think it would present a problem."

Alice laughed, resting her arm over Pyrrha's shoulders. "No worries there. I'm sure Ozpin won't mind if my brother dropped in every once in a while. He keeps in contact with me from time to time for missions. He owes me a few."

Both Pyrrha and Jaune seemed surprised by that.

"You never told me that." Jaune said with surprise.

"You never asked. I mean I did graduate from Beacon after all." She explained as if it was obvious.

Jaune realized, that he probably should have made that connection. She did always seem to have business in Vale, so they still saw each other frequently despite her almost always being on a mission away from home before they moved here completely.

As Pyrrha packed up her stuff, Alice thought for a moment before a Cheshire grin creeped on her face. "Say Pyrrha, the Vytal festival is this year again right? That means the ball should be coming up soon right? When is it?" Alice asked, not even attempting to hide her amused smile.

Pyrrha nodded. "In two weeks actually."

"You should go Jaune." Alice said with a smirk, winking at Pyrrha.

"But I'm not even a student." He said nervously.

Alice just sighed, a bit annoyed. "Oh it's fine. Like I said, Ozpin knows the Arc family. He wouldn't mind. Besides, don't you want to see the inside of Beacon?" She said, dangling the carrot in front of him.

Falling for the bait hook, line, and sinker, Jaune's eyes widened. He turned to Pyrrha. "Can I?"

Pyrrha nodded her head a bit too eagerly. "If your sister says it's fine, I don't see why not. It's always better when your friends are with you. I'm sure the rest of my team and team RWBY would enjoy having you around as well." Pyrrha offered.

Jaune grinned. "Perfect!" He said, already looking forward to it. "I'll be sure not to get in the way of you guys and your dates." He said.

Smiling sadly Pyrrha nodded. "Yeah, if we find them." She said a bit awkwardly looking away.

"Oh please. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh." Jaune said as he packed up his own stuff and put his sword away.

"Oh my God." Alice said as she slammed her palm against her forehead. She shot a look of sympathy to Pyrrha before she stepped over to Jaune, throwing an arm around his shoulders and painfully pulling him close. "I hope you still remember how to dance. I think I'm going to have to round up our sisters to make sure you don't embarrass us there." She said, a bit frustrated with Jaune's obliviousness.

Jaune's eyes widened in fear. "No please. I remember."

Pyrrha just smiled as she finished packing up.

"Will you be okay getting back? You can stay for lunch if you'd like." Alice offered.

"Tempting, but I should be getting back. I have studying to do with my team, and I believe Ren was cooking lunch today."

Alice nodded. "Be safe getting back then. Thanks for training my brother." She said sincerely.

"Yeah thanks!" Jaune said, struggling to get out of his sister's makeshift choke-hold she had him in. "Let go!"

With a smirk Alice released her brother as he ran to catch up to Pyrrha at the door.

"Thank you again for today. I promise I'll practice!" He said dutifully.

With a smile Pyrrha nodded. "I'll hold you to it. But make sure to rest properly too. You are still recovering, and I fear we may have over done it a bit. Don't let your eagerness hurt you, and you'll go far." She said with a smile.

"Wait a second!" Jaune said suddenly as he ran back to the fridge, before returning. He held out a container.

Curiously, Pyrrha opened it up and found it was filled with a healthy trail mix, with oats and fruit.

"It's not much, but I asked what could be a good snack for after a work out. I figured pie wouldn't be the best idea, but I thought you could use a snack after our workout when I made it. I tried to make it healthy, and delicious."

Pyrrha beamed at him. "Thank you very much. This is very thoughtful, and perfect. Just what I needed for my trip back." She ate a little of it. "And very delicious as well."

Jaune perked up at the praise like a puppy, earning a chuckle from Pyrrha. He waved as she left the shop.

Pyrrha ate some more of the trail mix, finding it to be just the snack she had planned on making when she got back. Jaune certainly had a long way to go. She could tell he had tried to teach himself over the years, without much success but he had a drive to improve himself not seen that often by her. As she thought about seeing him at the dance, her cheeks tinted red slightly. Maybe she would have to take Weiss up on her offer to go shopping for dresses together. Some part of her wondered what Jaune would look like dressed up, and Pyrrha realized the dance couldn't come too soon.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! Also thank you all for the very very kind reviews you left me. I don't just mean about praising my story, but for your kind uplifting words. The reviews had been getting me down a bit but I feel wonderful writing again and I hope this chapter serves you well. It was a bit difficult to get out, which was why it took so long. I've spent a decent amount of time tweaking my story plan for this entire work, as it runs parallel to season 2 so I want to make sure I hit the major moments in the season that I feel will have relevance to this story, while fitting in all the scenes I want to have happen. My speculation puts this at about half way done, assuming I don't add anything else, or merge chapters depending on how they turn out when I write them. I may write up a shorter holiday chapter for Christmas that likely wouldn't be canon, as season 2 and 3 happen around the summer/fall time so I can't really have a winter holiday for them. So if you see a chapter posted before Christmas, odds are it will be that and won't be a direct continuation but entirely same situation and universe, just juxtaposed a few months, and who knows, maybe a snippet from their future? ;) Expect painful amounts of fluff, as any of you who know my others stories likely know I write. This chapter like the others are all posted on my Tumblr of the same name, Dyde21, where all my current other RWBY stories are posted, along side Percy Jackson and an Overwatch one or two. I only post the ones I super enjoy, or longer ones here so if you have a Tumblr, and you enjoy my writing, you might find another story or two there you could enjoy. Plus, I have a few more stories about team RWBY there, rather than just my heavy Arkos ones.

Regardless, thank you all for all your reviews and kind words. I hope this story is living up to your expectations, and you can continue to enjoy it. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and other holidays during this season, and I hope the rest of the year for your just goes swimmingly!


	9. The Dance

Super freaking sorry about the delay, more after the story!

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha nervously fiddled with her pony tail in her dorm room. Tonight was finally the night of the ball, and to say that Pyrrha Nikos was in a good mood would be a massive understatement. She was excited to have fun with all her friends, and was secretly overjoyed that Jaune could join them. She has glad Alice had insisted on him attending. She was also nervous though, since they weren't attending "together" after all.

Yang and Nora had been perceptive enough to pick up on the subtle hints of nerves that Pyrrha had exhibited as the Ball approached. While RWBY seemed to having trouble within their team regarding one of their more... reclusive team members, Yang had offered Pyrrha some rather "blunt" advice, and Nora was busy helping Pyrrha get dressed up. She had insisted that she needed to look her best tonight, and Pyrrha wasn't exactly disagreeing.

It wasn't like Pyrrha was inexperienced when it came to formal occasions. Aside from Weiss, Pyrrha wagered she had spent the most time at these events because of tournaments and promotions. So at least, she figured that was one set of worries that wasn't plaguing her. She was better off than Jane, who seemed terrified at the idea of attending a fancy ball. She had been fussing with her dress for the past fifteen minutes, not actively changing much. Pyrrha found herself wishing that Jane could have a wonderful night, she had even asked Weiss to help her get used to wearing heels rather than sneakers, after Nora and Yang insisted that Jane dressed up too. Pyrrha had already offered her partner what advice she could to stay calm, but Pyrrha wasn't too worried. Jane was one of those people who worried about stuff endlessly until the time came, and then they always were fine.

Finally the time came to go to the dance, and team JNPR went together in a group. None of them had secured a date for the dance, despite the fact that Ren and Nora were going "Together, but not Together Together, you know?" Whatever that meant.

As they walked in, they were greeted by Yang who burst into a massive smile at seeing her friends.

"You all look amazing!" She gushed, quickly marking off that team JNPR had arrived. As Pyrrha passed her she reached out, grabbing her army gently.

"Jaune doesn't stand a chance tonight." She said with a wink.

Pyrrha's words failed her as she left the blond, blushing and ignoring the "Good Luck!" Being called after her.

Speaking of Jaune, a bit hopefully Pyrrha's eyes scanned the room. Many people were attending, students, guests, and teachers, but a certain Blond seemed to be lacking.

Pyrrha's expression fell just a bit, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around she saw a familiar face smiling at her.

"Well don't you look lovely?" Alice's voice said, looking Pyrrha up and down. Pyrrha was wearing a fancy red dress with an open back.

Pyrrha just blushed a bit. "Well thank you. You look gorgeous yourself." Pyrrha said. She wasn't lying either. Alice was wearing a dress that by Pyrrha's best guess would cost about as much as Weiss'. Alice's hair was done up and her figure showed off her constant hard work. Pyrrha realized there was a certain beauty that could only be achieved once you reach a certain age. Which made her wonder how Jaune would look when he was his sister's age. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she smiled at Alice. "I didn't know you would be coming. Is Jaune not?" She asked, her voice betraying her fear a bit at the end.

Alice just smirked. "As if I would let him miss this. No, I figured I'd might as well drop by. Free food is hard to resist. Besides, one of our sisters is a fashion designer so she asked me to model it here, drop her name et cetera. I owed her one, so I had no choice, even if I don't like dressing up. Not very practical for fighting." She explained.

Pyrrha nodded, a bit glad to hear Jaune would still be attending.

"Jaune had to finish up a task for my dad before he could come over, and said sister is currently sprucing him up for you at the moment." Alice teased with a wink. "He cleans up quite well."

Pyrrha just blushed. "I'm sure we all will be excited for him to show up." Pyrrha offered as a means of escape.

Alice just laughed, shaking her head and placing her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "He's dense. Beating around the bush like that won't work with him." She offered. She quirked an eyebrow before suddenly turning Pyrrha around. "Speaking of my brother... go get him." She teased with a smirk, shoving Pyrrha suddenly as she turned and left, grabbing a drink off a platter a waiter was carrying and going back to mingle. She had seen a potential business partner for her sister, and a mission was a mission. Turning on her most flirtatious smile she moved across the floor like a predator stalking her prey.

Pyrrha stumbled a bit, looking up to see Jaune standing in front of her, his arms outstretched as if he was about to catch her.

"Uh... hey Pyrrha."

"Oh... hello Jaune." Pyrrha said with a warm smile.

"This dance sure is something huh? And Beacon is so big. I got lost walking here." He confessed without thinking.

Choking back a laugh Pyrrha smiled. "The campus is rather large. I'm glad you found your way here though."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. Wait... did Blake just enter with Sun? From your texts I thought she wouldn't be coming tonight."

Following his gaze, she smiled. "It seems Yang had a talk with her that got through to her. I'm glad she decided to attend."

Jaune nodded. "Yup. I was sad to hear she was acting strange, I hope things are back to normal for team RWBY." He thought for a moment. "It sure must be nice to go to the dance with a date." He said a bit longingly.

A bittersweet smile crossed Pyrrha's face. "I imagine it is." She said after a moment of hesitation.

Jaune looked at her a bit odd before Nora showed up. "Jaune! You look amazing! I'm glad you showed up! Did ya sneak in here?" Nora started asking, dragging Ren behind her as Jane followed them, looking a bit awkward but seeming to be enjoying herself.

Soon Jaune and Nora were chatting about the dance and Pyrrha let out a small sigh.

 _A date huh?_ Needing some fresh air Pyrrha let out another sigh. She needed to clear her head.

Excusing herself to mostly deaf ears, she made her way out to the balcony.

A few minutes later she was leaning on the balcony, looking out of the scenery. Could she have attended the dance with Jaune if she had asked him? Would he even consider her an option?

Pyrrha's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. Maybe she was too tall, or just not his type. Alice seemed encouraging though. Maybe she had missed her chance after all?

A scary thought crossed Pyrrha's mind, making her stomach plummet. He had looked very nice, his sisters sure had cleaned him up well. Maybe other girls would take notice in him after tonight. Pyrrha bit her lip. She should be happy for her friend after all, he had mentioned wanting a date. Maybe he would be able to find one before the night was over. She should be supportive of him right?

Before she could finish her downward spiral of thoughts, a voice interrupted her.

"Hey, Pyrrha."

Recognizing the voice, Pyrrha turned around to see the source of her worries standing near the exit.

"Hello, Jaune."

"You okay? You left suddenly."

"Just wanted some fresh air, I'm afraid." She offered, still not meeting his gaze.

"Well, You look really nice!" He said, trying to puzzle out what her problem was.

"Thank you." Pyrrha said, hiding a blush and ignoring the small flutter in her heart.

"Your, uh, date isn't going to beat me up for saying that, is he?" Jaune asked a bit nervously, glancing around.

"I think you're safe for tonight." Pyrrha replied, still looking away.

"So where is the guy?" Jaune asked curiously. Surely her date should be the one cheering up Pyrrha.

Finally, Pyrrha turned back to Jaune. "There is no guy." She confessed, looking down before glancing up to read his reaction.

Jaune just stepped back a step, utterly shocked. "Uh, what?"

Letting out a sigh, Pyrrha's gaze fell. "Nobody asked me."

Jaune couldn't comprehend the words his friend was saying. "But that's... you're Pyrrha Nikos." He explained, trying to figure out what he was missing. He laughed nervously. "How could nobody ask you?"

Pyrrha felt her frustrations bubbling up.

" I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place." Pyrrha turned back to look at Jaune. "Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know who I was. You treated me just like anyone else. You've shown me so much kindness, and been so honest with me that I feel l truly am a normal friend to you. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me." She finished her explanation.

Not willing to face the fear of seeing his reaction, she looked away. Unable to face him, she turned and left. She fled into the ballroom, needing to think.

Jaune just paused there, thinking through what she had said. He turned, about to go talk to her when Sun's friend, Neptune he thought he remembered hearing, walked onto the balcony. Before either of them could say anything, Jane suddenly followed Neptune out there. "What is the deal Neptune?"

Jaune's eyes widened a bit, not having heard Jane sounding so upset before. Feeling awkward, he quickly fled the balcony, leaving it to them to work out whatever the problem was. He had other important matters to attend to. Tapping on Alice's shoulder, he looked at her with a determined gaze. "I need your help."

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha just stood off to the side, chatting with Jane, as they watched Neptune approach Weiss. Pyrrha was about to ask just what Jane had said to Neptune that changed his mind, when she noticed everyone staring behind her. Jane tapped on her shoulder, a huge grin on her face as she practically spun Pyrrha around.

Of all the things Pyrrha expected to be behind her, from a Grimm to a crazed fan, this had to be the least expected.

"Jaune?" She asked in shocked.

"Eh, a promise is a promise."

Pyrrha just stared at him in shock, a smile creeping on her face. " _If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress."_ Pyrrha started giggling as she remembered the promise, before breaking out into full blown laughter. The worries and doubts that had been plaguing her for most of the night all evaporated at the sight of Jaune in his dress. "Jaune, you didn't _have_ to!" She offered, struggling to get the words out in her fit of laughter.

"Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word." He said with a smirk that made her heart flutter. He offered a hand to her. "Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do you wanna dance?"

As she took his hand, she didn't even try to fight the massive smile on her face. "I would love to dance."

Jaune pulled her closer, and begun to spin her away, causing a little "Oh!" to escape her mouth.

Off to the side, Nora grinned to Ren. "Ren. This. Is. Happening!" She said excitedly. As she quickly hurried to join them on the dance floor.

Alice leaned over to Jane, who was still on shock. "My brother is a one of a kind for sure." She said, shaking her head. She hadn't expected that request tonight, but she was more than happy to help him out. "Now get out there!" She said as she shoved Jane in the back, as Jane stumbled onto the dance floor with Jaune and the rest of her team.

Alice just laughed as she took endless photos on her scroll, sending them to all her sisters. Jaune was never going to be able to forget about this.

"The Arcs certainly know how to make an event interesting Ms. Arc." Ozpin's voice said as he took a sip from his drink.

Alice just smirked. "Yup! Aren't you glad we stopped by? I still think my graduating year was better. I still haven't seen a bonfire that big since."

Ozpin shook his head. "At least this year we likely won't have to deal with the authorities as much."

Alice just laughed as she watched her brother dance with Pyrrha.

"Your sister said you could dance, but I had _No_ Idea you could dance this well." Pyrrha offered as she continued to dance with Jaune.

"Yeah, well, these things tend to happen when you grow up with seven sisters." He said as he dipped Pyrrha, before spinning her again.

XxXxXxXxX

As the night rounded down, Pyrrha felt like she was on cloud nine. The night had turned from one full of worry and doubt, into the fondest memory she had formed. She would never forget the fun she had with her team, team RWBY, and Jaune. Speaking of Jaune, both of them were wandering through the courtyard, hand in hand.

Pyrrha had taken Jaune's hand when she lead him out there, and neither of the pair particularly wanted to let go.

"This place really is amazing." He said in awe as he looked around. His eyes finally settled on Pyrrha again as he smiled. "I'm really glad I came here tonight."

"I'm glad as well." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Jaune just looked wistfully up at the stars. "My life has changed so much since I met you. I've learned so much, met so many people and made so many new memories."

Pyrrha just smiled, squeezing his hand slightly. "I could say the same. The nights we spent at your shop really helped my team and team RWBY bond with each other as well as you. Though, I wish our memories were a little less... dangerous." She said with a bit a teasing smirk.

Jaune nodded. "We do seem to find trouble, huh?"

"We?" Pyrrha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, _I_ seem to find trouble. Or trouble seems to find me." He said, pouting a bit.

Pyrrha just laughed. "That's just how our world is. That's why we have friends. If I ever find myself in trouble I hope you'll come to my aid as well. For now though, I think your pies have been more than payment enough."

Jaune just laughed as he squeezed her hand ever so slightly.

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed slightly as she saw Cardin approaching them from farther down the walk way. Judging by his smirk, he was about to ruin her peaceful moment. Perhaps revenge for her early match against his team. Before she could steer Jaune away, Pyrrha was aware of the rustle of leaves, and a sudden flare up of danger. In a blur Cardin was suddenly gone from from the walk way, and she saw the fountain far across the courtyard let out a massive splash.

A figure appeared on the walk way, before long the figure in the dress vanished from her spot, hardly a second having passed.

"Did... you see that?" Jaune asked curiously.

Pyrrha just shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She said, leading him away towards a loop that would end up with them back at the entrance to her dorm. She knew it was getting late so she should let Jaune go soon, but she wanted to keep the night going even if just for a few moments more.

"Does that happen often at Beacon? Mysterious people show up and people go flying?"

Pyrrha laughed gently. "More than you would think actually."

Jaune joined her in laughing as they walked. "One day maybe I'll come here."

Pyrrha just nodded. "Just keep working hard. It's never too late." She thought for a moment before stopping. "We have away missions coming up, so we won't be able to train this next weekend. I'm sorry!" She explained, suddenly feeling a bit bummed she'd have to pass up on the opportunity to spend the previous little time she got with Jaune.

Jaune shook his head. "Don't worry about it! You training to be a huntress after all. It's fine. Just be safe, okay?" He asked with a smile that made her chest grow warm.

"Of course. I'll record a video that will give you some exercise to do this weekend while I'm gone." She offered.

They continued to chat peacefully as they walked, hand in hand. Too soon though, Pyrrha found herself back at the entrance to her dorms.

"Well, I should get back to my room. I think my team might be waiting." She said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Jaune nodded. "I think my sister is waiting for me as well."

They both lingered there a moment longer.

Looking down, Jaune spoke softly. "I'm sorry for my careless remarks early. I made some assumptions and I was wrong." His eyes widened as he felt a soft pressure against his cheek.

Pyrrha quickly kissed his cheek before she stepped back, her face as red as her hair. "No apologies necessary. And thank you for joining us tonight, and the dance. It was absolutely wonderful."

Jaune stood there in shock, trying to wrap his head around what happened.

All Pyrrha could do was smile and blush. "Well, I have to get going. I'll see you later Jaune!" She said as she turned and quickly disappeared into the dorm.

All Jaune could do was turn, gently bringing his hand to his cheek as he stumbled back towards the front. Before long, Alice had showed up as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, grinning ear to ear. "I'm so proud of you brother! Ugh, you really can do some things right! Your sisters are never going to believe this." She gushed as she lead him away. Definitely worth the stern talking to she got from Ozpin for launching that student across the courtyard Jane and Nora had warned her about. She aimed for the fountain, it wasn't that bad in her opinion.

As Pyrrha walked back into her room, she opened to see seven sets of eyes staring at her intently, expectantly.

"Uhh... I'm back?" She said, a bit nervously. She stumbled a bit as Nora crashed into her, embracing her in a bear hug.

"We're so proud of you!" Nora said suddenly.

Pyrrha just stared at her. "What..." It finally dawned on her. "You were watching?!" She exclaimed suddenly. Nora just stepped back, sticking her tongue out. "Maybe a little?"

After a moment, Pyrrha just collapsed on her bed, hiding her face with her hands as Jane rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Tonight really was the best night. Her stomach dropped as she realized she had no idea how Jaune felt, since she had fled out of fear right after kissing him.

Her scroll buzzed as she saw a message from Alice.

 _Got your number from Jaune a while ago. He's still grinning like an idiot, nice hustle tonight. Good job~_

Pyrrha just blushed, looking down. Alice had been watching too? Still, it seemed he didn't mind it. Grabbing her pillow, Pyrrha covered her face, ignoring the laughs of the rest of her teammates and friends. How was she supposed to sleep tonight now?

The away mission could end fast enough, she wanted to see him again. She glanced at the rest of the students in the room, all staring at her expectantly.

"So... what happened?" Yang asked after a moment and Pyrrha groaned. She knew she wasn't going to get through tonight without answering all their questions.

Then again, as she thought about her time with Jaune at the dance she smiled again. Maybe thinking about it again wouldn't be the worst. "Well..." She started off as Jaune's smiling face brought one to hers. As she answered their questions about the night, Pyrrha realized before she attended beacon, before she met Jaune, she never had the opportunity to sit around like this with friends before. Her life had changed so much since she met Jaune, and she couldn't wait to see where they ended up next.

XxXxXxXxX

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, Holiday Season, and New Years! Super super sorry for the delay. I had planned on doing holiday chapters for either Christmas or New Years, and neither got done. Plus, I also was going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to include another chapter before this one, or much later and I decided to put it later on. This one was also just difficult to write for some reason. Not sure why, but I couldn't get super inspired with it, so I hope it still turned out okay! Also have to admit, I got Fire Emblem Awakenings, my first FE game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Pokemon Sun so my productivity has plummeted. I'm getting it back under control so I should be good. There wont be another long delay like that unless something serious comes up.

The ship may or may not be sailing. . Bit hesitant about throwing that development in so early but I hope it's okay! I'm really excited for the next few chapters.

Also, small notice. I'm actually working on a piece of art to accompany this story. It will be posted to my Tumblr, and I'll let you guys know in future chapters if I finish it and it turns out well enough to post. That's where I have the rest of my Arkos stories, and the best place to send me prompts or suggestions if you have ideas for one-shots, since I usually dont write this long of a piece xD I hope you all are enjoying this and I hope you have a fan-freaking-tastic day! :D


	10. The Invasion

Pyrrha was up bright and early, as always. However, for once she wasn't thrilled to be going on a mission. Normally Pyrrha would be glad to have the chance to help others, especially since they were going to be shadowing a professional hunter. Still, she really wished she would have been able to train with Jaune over the weekend. They hadn't messaged each other other than to offer thanks for dance, and Pyrrha hoped there wouldn't be a weird atmosphere hanging around when they finally had the chance to meet up again. After all, she had sort of... kissed him. Her face flushed red at the mere thought of it.

It was the first time she had taken any steps like that with someone, even if it was just a kiss on the cheek. The thought of it made her giddy, a fact which didn't escape Nora or Jane when they saw her start smiling randomly. Still, she knew she had to get her head in the game.

They were going to be going on a dangerous mission, out in the field for real. She couldn't let her school girl crush distract her, or someone could end up like Jaune did. Besides, physical exercise might be just the thing she needs to get her head on straight again.

Pyrrha began to gather the last bits of her stuff to finish packing for the mission. They had to travel light, but she wanted to make sure she wasn't missing anything they would need. After all, proper preparation is important. That's why she checked her scroll often of course, to make sure she didn't miss any important messages. Not that she had been expecting one. Of course she wasn't.

Before long, the rest of her team was up and getting psyched for the mission, which helped serve to get Pyrrha focused again. Jane was once again fretting over the prospect of the mission, though Pyrrha noticed she seemed more prepared to go on a life threatening adventure, than she was to attend a simple dance. Ren and Nora seemed particularly interested about heading out to the village, so Pyrrha was glad their team was able to do something so important for the pair of childhood friends.

Once they were all packed and ready, they headed off to their airship. Team RWBY had left before hand, and they had already said their goodbyes so it was a quiet send off. As they were loading in the ship though, Pyrrha's stomach dropped.

Sirens.

There were warning sirens coming from Vale. Her mind instantly went to Jaune, and the little shop she had grown very fond of. She turned to Jane, but Jane was already apologizing to Ren. Promising to visit the village later, while she stepped up to take charge, and ordered the pilot of the airship to take them to Vale.

Pyrrha beamed at her partner before she loaded in the airship. As they raced through the air, Pyrrha's leg bounced up and down nervously. Surely Jaune would be okay right? After all, his family was with him now. Plus, even if only a little, they had trained a few times by this point. She figured assuming he didn't go looking for trouble that he could hold off whatever threat could find him. After all a siren meant the entire city would be in danger, which meant that there would be an appropriate response. He wasn't on his own this time. Pyrrha tried to call him on her scroll, but there was no answer. She wasn't surprised, if the siren was going off even if Jaune was fine, there certainly was enough going on to distract him from answering his scroll.

Her thoughts started to spiral downwards into worry until Jane placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Relax. We'll be there soon. There are plenty of hunters that live in Vale, and Beacon is nearby. Whatever threat there is will be dealt with swiftly." She said with a knowing smile.

Pyrrha nodded thankfully as she drew her weapons, watching the airship land.

Team JNPR hopped out of the ship, already sprinting towards the center of town. They figured that'd be the best place to start searching.

"Grimm?" Ren said in surprise as they saw huntsmen battling with Grimm.

"How did they get so far into the city?" Nora followed up.

"I'm not sure. But we need to protect the civilians. Follow me!" Jane ordered as she ran forward, leaping before she brought down her greatsword, bisecting a Beowulf in half.

Pyrrha followed after her, swiftly cutting through grimm.

Nora paused for a moment. "The sirens seem to be coming from the town square."

Jane nodded. "I agree. Pyrrha, give Nora a boost. We'll follow after her. Let them know we're on our way Nora." She commanded.

Pyrrha nodded and knelt down, as Nora jumped, and launched herself off Pyrrha's shield. A few more shots in mid air and Nora was flying through the air as the rest of her team ran after her. Pyrrha felt her nerves starting to go into overdrive at seeing all the grimm around them as they fought their way to the square. "I'm taking a shortcut, I'll meet you there." Pyrrha said as she jumped up, kicking off her shield mid air with her semblance as she landed on a low rooftop, pulling her shield back towards her as she took off in a sprint towards the town square. She fired a few shots off at Grimm, seeing that they were surrounding team RWBY. Just how did team RWBY always find themselves in the middle of all this trouble?

Jumping off the building, she landed next to Nora as Jane and Ren finally caught up. Soon they were all fighting in the center, against the hordes of grimm. They seemed to be centered around this area. Noticing the giant hole in the ground, Pyrrha realized this wasn't a natural accident. Someone must have set this up. She didn't have time to dwell on those thoughts though as the grimm pressed their attack.

Before long though, reinforcements had arrived. Team CFVY showed up, as well as Atlas's militia. Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief. They were only able to help so many people themselves.

Still, she knew she wouldn't be able to relax until she saw him for herself.

Glancing over at Jane, she was surprised to see Jane already nodding.

"Ren, Nora. Pyrrha and I are going to check on Jaune since this area is under control. You two go east, look for stragglers. Stay together, and stay in touch. We'll meet up after we make sure that area is safe." Jane said as everyone nodded, and took off sprinting.

Pyrrha pushed herself as she ran, knowing Jaune's luck. Still, he had his family right? He couldn't be hurt. Not with how strong Alice is.

Pyrrha had made short work of a spare grimm or two on the way, but the are seemed to be safe for the most part.

Turning the corner, Pyrrha felt her stomach drop again.

There were two Boarbatusks approaching the alleyway that Jaune's shop was in, and there was the growling of an Ursa coming from down there. Pyrrha launched her spear, impaling a borbatusk through the weak spot in the armor on it's back, as Jane landed from above, stabbing straight through the other one.

As Pyrrha ran to retrieve her weapon, she saw Jaune in the corner, facing off against a massive Ursa with his sword and shield. Huddled behind him were two small children. Judging by the sets of dog ears, they were fannus children.

"Huagghhh!" Jaune roared out as he stepped forward, swinging his sword. His slashes were still a little chaotic, but Pyrrha recognized the pattern. It was one they had been drilling very hard. Simple, but strong. Most of them seemed to get through, but the Ursa's massive paw slammed into Jaune's side, bringing him down to a knee.

Pyrrha ripped her spear free of the Boarbatusk as she ran to the corner. Jane joined her, but before Jane could dash down the alley, Pyrrha stopped her. "Wait."

Jaune just let out another scream of defiance as he forced himself to his feet, swinging again as he chipped away at the Ursa.

The Ursa let out a roar went leaned back for a wide swing as Jaune stepped forward with a determined look.

The scene seemed to play out in front of Pyrrha before it happened. Jaune's swing would be too slow, the Ursa would hit first.

Pyrrha's hand raised as it glowed black. Focusing, she raised Jaune's shield. He had dropped his guard a little too much when he went for the big swing, but as his shield glowed black, it raised up.

The Ursa's paw struck the shield, sliding off it as it lurched forward, trapped by it's own momentum.

Jaune planted his foot, bracing himself from the sheer weight of the Ursa. Recognizing a chance when one was presented, summoning every bit of strength he had, he swung upwards.

His blade sliced clean through the weakened Ursa's head as it fell off to the side, beginning to disintegrate.

Jaune stumbled backwards, breathing heavily as the Ursa fell backwards. Suddenly the two Fannus children threw themselves at Jaune, wrapping their arms around his waist as they cried into his sweatshirt.

Jane let out a sigh of relief. "He seems to be unhurt. Though it's a good thing you helped him. We should let him know what happened."

Pyrrha glanced over at Jaune, seeing him grinning triumphantly as he gently patted the kid's on the head as he reassured them.

"We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" She said with a smile, as she stepped back, before taking a few steps and running around the corner, running up to Jaune.

"Jaune! Are you okay?" She asked, her still very real concern dripping through her voice. She wasn't sure how long he had been fighting before she arrived.

Jaune looked up. "Pyrrha! You're okay! Yeah, I'm fine."

Pyrrha just let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. I saw you fight that Ursa, it seems your lessons are paying off."

Jaune nodded. "I can't thank you enough. It's because of your teaching that I was able to save these two." He said, gesturing to the two kids still clutching onto him tightly.

Pyrrha just smiled and walked over, gently patting he head on the little boy. "That's why we are huntsmen after all."

There was another roar as a massive snake head turned the corner.

"King Taijitu." Pyrrha said, eyes widened as she drew her weapons again, taking a defensive stance next to Jane in front of Jaune as the second head appeared. Fighting that in such a small alley was going to be impossible. Especially while protecting Jaune and the kids. Sure Jaune had managed to beat the Ursa, but it only took a glance to see how tired he was, and Pyrrha doubted his Aura would be able to last for another hit.

Feeling determination well up in her, she was about to reach for her scroll when she heard it. A loud piercing sharp whistle from right behind her. The volume of it made her wince slightly, Jaune really could whistle loud. A second later, a similar whistle echoed from somewhere nearby.

Jane glanced over her shoulder, trying to figure out what his deal was when Jaune stared at her, already dropping to a knee as he covered both of the kids with his body. "GET DOWN!" He ordered suddenly.

Both Pyrrha and Jane trusted Jaune, so in a second they dropped to the ground.

The king Taijitu roared, but before either head could move, the white one shot to the ground with such blinding speed that the ground shook from the impact. Pyrrha's eyes widened as the smell of Ozone reached her nose. Barely a moment later the King Taijitu erupted into electricity as it let out a roar of pain.

Alice landed a moment later as she pulled her spear from the head of the snake, her piercing gaze staring at Jaune, as if she was taking notice of every scratch on him. She did not look happy. She hopped off the snake as she began to walk towards Jaune, until the other head of the snake roared up. It was still alive.

"Look out!" Pyrrha called out, getting ready to run forward, until Jaune reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Wait."

Alice just casually walked towards Jaune, her gaze slowly going from angry to concerned.

The snake lurched forward, before it's head suddenly exploded, a quarter of the body missing.

Pyrrha's jaw dropped at the sight. Alice hadn't done anything, none of them had moved. What could have...

Pyrrha felt a chill rack down her spine as she stared at the figure standing next to where the snake's head had previously been. An overwhelming power stood there, the murderous intent dwarfing Alice's making hers look like a temper tantrum. The figure was oozing with power. The gaze focus on Pyrrha and Pyrrha's guard snapped to attention, feeling a brief pang of fear for her life.

Then, it was gone. All signs of danger was gone as the woman ran towards them.

Pyrrha's eyes widened in shock as she ran towards them. In a moment both Jane and Pyrrha had been pulled into a tight hug by Jaune's mom.

"Oh thank the heavens for you two! Did you help out Jaune just now? I see he has Crocea Mors. We must have missed one or two. I'm so glad you are here. Are you girls unharmed?" She asked, her voice dripping with sweetness and warmth.

Jane was still too terrified to speak as Pyrrha nodded a bit meekly. "We uh came to check on him. There had been some Grimm on the way but Jaune held his own against an Ursa when we got here." Pyrrha explained. She glanced back at Jaune, her eyes flicking to his mom as if to say 'Really?'.

Jaune just offered a sheepish smile, raising his hands as he shrugged. Alice had to learn it from somewhere after all.

Pyrrha just let out a deep breath, finally able to get air in her lungs once she was finally released from the bear hug Jaune's mother hand pulled her into.

Alice through her arm around Jaune as she pulled him close, letting out a sigh of relief. "At least you're fine this time. It seems Pyrrha's lessons are paying off, eh? Good thing you remembered the signal though. That coulda been bad." She offered, looking at the corpse of the snake that was slowly dissolving.

The massive snake corpse was suddenly lifted as it was thrown farther down the street as Jaune's dad walked down the alley, brushing dirt off his hands. "Seems I wasn't needed here." He said with a hearty laugh as he pulled his wife in, kissing her on the cheek.

Jaune's mother moved over and knelt in front of the two fannus children. "There there. Were you scared? Thank you for being so brave." She said with a warm smile.

The two children nodded, before clinging onto her in a tight hug.

Pyrrha just smiled at seeing the mother act so warm. It was a stark contrast to the persona she had when she arrived on the scene. Pyrrha realized, she really had to make sure she didn't do anything to turn Jaune's family against her.

"Good kids. Now, why don't you go with Jaune? He will take you to find your parents." She said, shooting Jaune a glance.

A few minutes later and Jaune was walking down the street, each of the kids holding onto one of his hands. They each were sucking on a lollipop Jaune's mother had given them. Pyrrha just smiled, looking at Jane and snickering at seeing Jaune with the kids. He seemed like a natural with them, and Pyrrha had to admit that was an attractive trait. Then again, since he grew up with younger siblings, she guessed he had some practice with kids.

As they rounded the corner back to the main square, they saw it was mostly cleaned up. Glynda had been fixing all the broken bits rather efficiently.

The rest of team RWBY and team JNPR saw Pyrrha and her group arrive, and ran over. Nora and Yang rushed over and were kneeling in front of the kids, both rather fond of kids. Soon they were laughing at playing with them while Weiss and Ren went to go talk to the officers, hoping to find the parents of the kids.

Blake stood by, looking curiously. "Where did you find these kids?" She asked, smiling at seeing her partner and Nora playing with the fannus children, seemingly not even caring about their differences.

"Jaune saved them. When I found him he was fighting off an Ursa to protect them." Pyrrha bragged a bit, incredibly proud of her friend.

Blake looked at Jaune with a new sense of approval. She had always seen Jaune as nice, but for him to risk his life for Fannus children really showed him in a new light to her. She placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling. "That was very brave of you. I'm sure they appreciate it." She said.

Jaune just blushed. "Oh stop. It wasn't much." He said, getting all bashful at the praise.

Blake and Pyrrha just looked at each other, laughing slightly.

Pyrrha was aware that Blake was a fannus, and could guess how much the act had meant to Blake. Jaune wasn't aware of it, but Blake figured she might let him know soon enough, she realized she could trust him.

Before long Weiss and Ren returned, with two concerned looking parents in tow. They ran up, until they saw the kids getting piggy back rides from Yang and Nora. They just let out a sigh of relief. They quickly made their way to Jaune, showering him in thanks.

When the attack happened, they had been separated and they had told the kids to run and hide to stay safe since they couldn't get around the Grimm. They had been looking for them since the attack ended, but didn't have any luck in the large city.

Pyrrha smiled softly as she watched Jaune's face as he rejected their offers of compensation. She knew the battle he had fought had been small, but it was an important one. More importantly, she could see the man she knew he could grow into.

Soon the parents were walking away with the kids, waving goodbye and promising the kids that they could stop by the shop again.

Before long everyone was returning to beacon. Pyrrha offered to walk Jaune back to the shop, so she told her team she'd meet up with him later. Ignoring the glances and Yang's joke, she just blushed and walked away with Jaune.

"So, now that that is all over. Are you sure you're okay? That was a large Ursa." Pyrrha asked a bit nervously.

Jaune just brushed her off. "Don't worry, I'm fine! I still had my Aura, a good nights rest and I'll be back to normal!" He said, pumping a fist as he tried to reassure her.

Pyrrha just laughed, lacing her hands behind her back. "Glad to hear it. So how did you end up there anyway? Why would your parents and sister leave you alone?" She asked a bit hesitantly, wondering how a family so protective of their son and brother would leave him alone during an attack.

Jaune just sighed. "It wasn't easy as you said." He stopped walking for a moment, causing Pyrrha to stop and turn to look at him curiously.

"It's just... they're huntsmen you know? Even if my mom and dad are retired, they're huntsmen. People were being attacked out there. I don't know what happened, but a city full of Grimm is a danger. I couldn't let them just babysit me when people could be dying. I convinced them to leave and help the city while I stayed in the shop. It was the only way to ease their worries." He said, obviously looking a little glum about feeling like a burden to them.

Pyrrha nodded her head. "I can imagine that could be difficult to accept. Staying still when there is danger out there, but rushing out could cause more trouble." She realized what her words sounded like. "But you really were a hero. You saved those kids."

Smiling softly, Jaune shook his head. "I understand. I was staying put in the shop, I wasn't going to look for trouble. But I saw the kids running down the alley and I couldn't sit still. I only saw the Ursa with them so I figured I could take care of it." He started to explain.

"I would have just brought them into the shop to hide, but I don't think a wooden door would be enough to stop an Ursa. I needed to fight." He defended himself.

Pyrrha thought for a moment before putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I understand. I think you made the right choice in that situation, Jaune. There are times when we all need to fight, regardless of the challenge in front of us. We can't afford to let it pass us by."

Jaune smiled, obviously relieved that Pyrrha wasn't mad at him. "The whistle is the emergency signal my family has. If someone makes it, the rest of the family runs no questions asked. I didn't want to worry them if it was just the Ursa so I tried to beat him myself. I would have called to save the kids if I thought I couldn't do it though. I was even about to. I guess I got lucky." He said, looking away.

Pyrrha felt a fist clench around her heart. "It wasn't just luck Jaune. You've worked so hard recently. Every step of progress you've made is from your hard work." She paused, looking into his eyes for a moment. "That's what I admire about you Jaune. You work so hard, even when you have so little help. You're not afraid of taking on challenges that scare you. That's why you are a hero to those kids. That's why I am so blessed to be able to call you my friend." She admitted, ignoring the blush that crept on her cheeks.

Jaune just stared at her, the words she just said soaking in. Pyrrha just looked away, and started to walk back towards the shop. She nearly stopped when she felt Jaune's hand grab hers as he walked next to her.

She glanced over, but Jaune was just looking ahead, wearing a matching blush to herself.

They approached the alleyway in silence, though neither was particularly willing to break it.

Soon they were standing outside the shop door, still holding hands. Pyrrha was about to let go whens he felt Jaune squeeze her hand gently.

"Thank you Pyrrha." He said softly. "Thank you for coming to check on me. Thank you for training me. Thank you for being my friend." He said, looking at her earnestly. "You're the reason I've started to change, and you're the reason I will continue to fight. Next time, I don't want you to have to worry about me. I want to have your back." He said with a warm smile.

Pyrrha felt a fire in her chest as she stared at the boy in front of her. Ever so slowly she started to move forward, her face inches from his, until she jumped as she heard the door slam open.

"Jaune? You back yet? Mom wants to know exactly what happened and I-" Alice said, peaking out.

She saw Jaune and Pyrrha standing hand in hand, their faces inches from each other. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry." She said, remorse dripping from her voice. "Pretend I never came out." She started to close the door when Pyrrha jumped back.

"No, no. It's okay! I should be getting back to Beacon soon anyway. I just wanted to see Jaune home."

She said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Jaune blushed as he looked away, giving Alice a helpless look.

Dropping to her knees, Alice just slammed her fist on the ground. "I am so sorry. I ruined it. Ugh. Bia is going to kill me." She said desperately. She looked at Pyrrha, begging for forgiveness. "I'm so sorry. I should have checked."

Pyrrha just blushed red, playing with her hair. "I have no idea what you mean! We were just... saying goodbye."

"Yeah!" Jaune added, unconvincingly.

A minute later Jaune's mom reemerged, carrying two boxes. "Who are you talking to? Is Jaune home yet?" Her mom looked at the scene, noticing the blush on her son and Pyrrha. She glanced at Alice. "Is she?" Alice just nodded. "And you just... when they were?" She asked again. Alice nodded her head again, mortified.

"Alice Ramona Arc. How could you be so careless?" She started to scold her, Alice looking down in shame.

Pyrrha was as red as her hair. She really had no idea how to deal with Jaune's family, and from the look of it, Jaune didn't either.

Alice's mother walked over, handing Pyrrha the two boxes. She rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm so sorry for my daughter. I thought we taught her better manners. Maybe next time."

Pyrrha just stammered, and blushed harder. "I have no idea what you mean ma'am."

Jaune's mother just waved her hand dismissively. "Sure sure. Inside those boxes are some pies. It was all I was able to whip up in the short time you were gone, but I figure your team and that team RWBY deserve a snack after how hard you all worked today." She said with a smile.

Pyrrha smiled. "Thank you Ma'am."

She just shook her head. "It was Jaune's idea. He said you students have grown quite fond of them. I see Jaune has enthralled more people with his cooking." She said with a proud laugh.

Smiling Pyrrha nodded. "He does seem to know his way around the kitchen."

"Mother! Pyrrha has to get back before it's too late." Jaune said, trying to recover any dignity in this situation. He began to try and push her back towards the shop.

Pyrrha just laughed. "I should be going now. Thank you very much for the pies. I'll let you know when I can come over next for training." She said to Jaune with a smirk.

Finally having ushered his mother and sister inside, he turned to her smiling. "I look forward to it. Thank you again for earlier. Also, be safe getting back!" He said, waving goodbye to her one last time.

Pyrrha nodded, before stumbling a bit as she tried to adjust her grip on the boxes.

Jaune moved closer, ready to catch them when he was surprised as Pyrrha leaned in.

It was over in a moment, but another kiss to his cheek left his face flushing red. "P-Pyrrha!"

"Goodbye Jaune!" She called out as she turned and quickly made her way from the shop, hiding her blushing face as she laughed to herself.

"G-Goodbye Pyrrha!" She heard him call after a moment, before hearing him already scolding his mother and sister by the time the door to the shop closed and muffled his voice.

As Pyrrha walked back, she knew she had to lose the blush before she could face her team or team RWBY. She really only had known Jaune for a rather short time since coming to Beacon, but she could already begin to see the fruit of his training. She could see him growing, but she could also feel something in herself growing as well. She knew, with every meeting she had with Jaune, she realized just how much he belonged in her life. She just hoped, she just prayed, that he felt the same way about her.

Pyrrha hugged the boxes closer as she smiled. She was excited for her next adventure with Jaune, and excited to see where they they would end up going together in this life.

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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. It took me a bit to figure out exactly how I wanted to have this chapter play out. I hope you still are enjoying this story. I feel like I'm getting less reviews with the most recent chapters so I hope you guys still find this interesting enough to follow! Regardless, I'm having fun writing these chapters. I'm also working on the companion piece of art to this story, which will be posted on my tumblr, .com where I cross post this story and my other RWBY ones, as well as the art I did. I hope to have my picture for this done by the time I post the next chapter or two. Anyway, I hope this new year is finding you well and that you all have a wonderful day!


	11. The Visit

Heads up: This chapter is a lot longer than usual.

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha was normally an early bird. While those first few moments were certainly a difficult challenge to overcome, forcing your body to resist the blissful temptation to go back to sleep, she appreciated getting an early start on the day. It meant she would be wide awake early, with left her with plenty of time to get done what she wished to get done. It also meant that finishing her work earlier meant she could afford to savor her precious time with her friends, get wrapped up in team RWBY's antics, and go along with whatever games JNPR found themselves playing.

At least, that was normally true. Today, Pyrrha felt awful. It took every ounce of her willpower to get her up. She had still managed to get up and moving at the same time, but her body certainly wasn't in agreement with her willpower. She had been up late training the night before with her team, then had spent some more time studying for an upcoming test in a few days.

Still, she knew before long she would be as awake as normal, and that when she finally managed to sleep tonight she would find an extremely refreshing one waiting for her, one she could look forward to.

As Pyrrha loaded up her backpack, she realized she was missing a notebook. She just let her head slump onto her bed with a yawn. A moment's reflection and she realized she must have left it in the library during her late study session. The rest of her team was just starting to stir, so she figured she had plenty of time to grab it before they headed off for classes.

Thus, Pyrrha was soon wandering through the hallways, still fighting the chains of sleep off herself as she saw a conversation happening. Who else would be up and moving at this hour?

As the red head passed them, she offered a small smile, wiping away a tear from a yawn. "Good morning Professor Ozpin. Good morning Jaune, Alice." She said as she continued to wander down the hall in a daze, just thinking about finding her notebook so she could get back to her team and work out a battle plan for making it through professor Port's class without dozing off.

She only made it a step or two before she whipped around, her eyes widening as her brain managed to kick into gear.

"Jaune?" She said suddenly, surprised at seeing her friend at Beacon so early in the morning.

The blond just smiled. "Mornin' Pyrrha!" He offered, an amused smirk. Pyrrha's hair was still a bit disheveled and Jaune had to admit he found it rather cute.

Pyrrha step forward, giving him a quick hug. Normally she wasn't so forward with displays of affection, but seeing Jaune had made her rather difficult morning infinitely better instantly.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Not that I'm complaining." She quickly added with a smile. It was still the middle of the week, they weren't due to see each other for another few days unless Pyrrha could come up with another excuse to visit the shop. Pyrrha had to admit that her excuses were getting weaker and weaker each time, feeling less of a desire to hide the fact she just wanted to see Jaune.

Ozpin just took a sip of his coffee, a small smile on his face as he watched the interaction between his student and her friend. "Yes what, may I ask, is the business of the two Arc children here? Not that you aren't welcome at our school of course."

Alice grinned. "Actually Oz, I came to see you. During my last mission I heard some interesting news about a nearby town and a spike in Grimm activity. I wanted to compare notes with you. But when I was leaving Jaune was already up and about. He still talks about how cool Beacon is whenever he visits to train with Pyrrha on the weekends, so I thought I'd let him tag along and see it a bit more... active." She paused, looking at Pyrrha. "It seems your training has been good for more than just his combat ability, he used to be impossible to wake up in the morning. Now he's up before me and exercising to boot." She said, raising an eyebrow.

"Alice!" Jaune scolded, looking away. His sister certainly didn't need to tell them about how cool he found beacon, or his... difficulty rising in the morning.

Pyrrha just laughed. "Oh Jaune, you're not the only one who finds it difficult to rise in the morning. I'm not sure Jane is even out of bed yet." She snickered.

Ozpin just listened to the bickering with a patient smile. He lived for moments like this, and wished nothing would ever break the peace.

"Would you like to attend classes for a day Mr. Arc?" Ozpin asked.

Jaune and Pyrrha both looked at Ozpin in shock.

"Really?" Jaune asked, eagerness dripping from him.

Pyrrha bit back a snicker as she looked at her friend. She could practically see puppy ears and a tail wagging with how eager he looked.

"I don't see why not. Assuming Ms. Nikos here wouldn't mind showing you around."

Before Jaune could even turn to Pyrrha with pleading eyes she had already nodded. "Of course I will!" Her friend's eagerness making her eager to help him. She was so glad Jaune could have the chance. They had already been training for a few months now, and he certainly had improved. She had been looking into what she could do as a little reward for his hard work, and this was perfect.

"I will leave him in your hands then. Come, Alice, let's talk back in my office. I believe they have classes to attend soon."

Jaune grinned, before his smile faltered a bit. "Wait... I was supposed to help out in the shop."

Alice just slapped him on the back. "Don't worry about it. I already cleared it with Dad. I had a feeling this would happen." Alice snickered, a scheming smile on her face.

Pyrrha looked at Alice a bit nervously. His sister certainly liked to scheme. Something about her smile gave her the distinct impression that her planning wasn't done for the day.

Letting out a cheer, Jaune looked between Alice and Pyrrha, looking like his dreams had come true.

Pyrrha just laughed, unable to express how happy she was for her friend. "Let's get back to the dorm so we aren't la... My book!" She said, remembering she was missing her book.

"Quick, Jaune! I'll show you the library then we'll head to classes." She said as she took his hand, leading him in a brisk walk down the hall, before she turned the corner and took off into a sprint, once she thought she was safe from Ozpin's gaze. Student's weren't supposed to run in the hall after all.

Ozpin just took a sip from his coffee, looking over to Alice. "I see you haven't lost your scheming habits after all these years."

Alice just grinned, watching her partner run off with his friend. "Never. Now about those Grimm..." She started off as she followed Ozpin back to his office for the boring meeting she had actually came here for.

Team JNPR and Jaune managed to make it into their first class with barely a minute to spare. They all took their seat as Jaune's head dropped on the desk as he tried to catch his breath.

"Beacon... is so big. So glad... for the cardio..." He managed to get out.

Pyrrha just laughed, catching her own breath a bit. "I told you it was important."

"You're in my seat." Jaune's head snapped up at the aggressive tone next to him. A rather large boy stood next to him, looking down on him with an annoyed smirk.

"I... uh... I'm sorry!" Jaune said, scrambling to stand up till Pyrrha placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Move it, pipsqweak. Wait a minute, you don't even go here did you? Did you sneak in?" He asked as he crossed his arms.

Jaune began to stammer, not expecting confrontation in his first class at Beacon. "I uh... I mean. Ozpin said..."

Pyrrha gently squeezed his shoulder reassuringly as she glared hard at Cardin. "Cardin. Jaune is our guest today. Ozpin is letting him attend classes. I would appreciate it if you would show our guest proper courtesy." She spoke calmly, but her tone icy cold.

Cardin just shrugged. "Whatever." He said. He was about to continue when he saw the threatening gazes from Pyrrha and Nora, even Ren seemed to be displeased. Perhaps most surprisingly was Jane was glaring at him. Before he could say anything professor Port walked in.

"Take your seats class." He ordered, earning a scoff from Cardin as he walked elsewhere in the class, plopping down with a glare at Jaune.

"I didn't mean to take his seat." Jaune told Pyrrha nervously, feeling his glare.

Pyrrha just offered him a warm smile. "Don't let him get to you. You did us all a favor by taking that seat."

"Class, it seems we have a guest today." Port started off, earning a serious of murmurs from the classroom as they looked around, trying to spot the new person. "Would you introduce yourself?" He asked.

Jaune's eyes widened before he stood up suddenly. "Uh, yes sir! I'm... my name is Jaune Arc. Ozpin said I could attend classes today. Normally I am a blacksmith at Arc's Metalworks." He finished, a feeling a bit awkward.

"Jaune! You're here!" Ruby's voice suddenly rang out as she waved.

Jaune looked over, seeing team RWBY sitting on the far end of the classroom. Ruby was waving with a smile at seeing her friend, as Weiss tried to get her team leader to sit down and stop causing a distraction. Blake offered a friendly wave as Yang just grinned, looking at Pyrrha and waggling her eyebrows.

"Yes, very good. Now, since we have a guest, I think it's only appropriate I share a particularly thrilling story. You're in for a treat young Arc, my boy." He started off as Jaune sat down and Ruby was dragged down by Weiss.

Most of the class groaned at the announcement, but Jaune leaned forward eagerly, excited to hear grand stories of adventures. He loved hearing them from his parents, and his sister always told him a tale when she got back from a mission. She had done it when he was just a kid, and it was now a sort of tradition, even as they both got older.

Pyrrha let out a soft sigh, knowing once again this class wasn't going to be particularly interesting, nor informative. Still, the look on her friends face made it worth it as she smiled softly. She supposed she could enjoy this class period.

As they walked out of the classroom, Jaune seemed to conflicted. He was deep in thought as Nora yawned, having finally woken up from her nap.

"I'm... not sure he was telling the truth." Jaune hazarded a guess. "It sounds so different from my sister's stories."

Pyrrha bit her lip a bit to suppress her laugh at her friend's naivety. Sure was sure most of the events Port had described had happened, but almost all of the details had obviously been "tweaked" slightly. "I'm sure there's some truth to it." Jaune said a bit nervously.

"Move it, Blondie." A gruff voice said as Jaune felt himself suddenly shoved out of the way as Cardin and his team exited the classroom.

Jaune stumbled and fell on the ground, releasing an "oof".

"Jaune!" Pyrrha said in a concerned voice as she helped her friend up, brushing some dirt off him.

"Hey! What's your problem." Nora questioned him, as she stood between Jaune and Cardin.

Ren put a calming hand on Nora's shoulder, but stood next to her.

"What? You got something to say to me?" He asked as his friends laughed next to him.

"Hey, it's okay! I was in the way." Jaune said a bit nervously. "That was my bad." He apologized, earning a muted disappointed sigh from Pyrrha. Her friend really wasn't one to stand up for himself, even when it was clearly warranted.

"What's going on out here?" Yang asked as she walked over, cracking her knuckles with a smirk.

"Tch." Cardin scoffed before turning and walking away with his friends. "Watch yourself Jaunie-boy."

"He doesn't seem very friendly." Jaune said with a nervous laugh.

"We should break his legs." Nora added helpfully.

Pyrrha just smiled softly as she wrapped her arm around his as she began to lead the group to their next class.

Soon they were settled down for their next class, Jaune unknowingly finding himself sitting in the center of team JNPR and RWBY as they chatted with him happily. Their occupation of his surrounding seats meant any unsavory visitors weren't able to bother their guest.

Pyrrha wasn't sure the last time she had seen Jaune smile so continuously as he asked questions about the school, seeming impressed by every little thing. Her eyes widened as she saw a wadded up piece of paper heading straight towards Jaune's head from a snickering Cardin. Pyrrha was about to reach for it when a hand shot up in a blur, snatching it out of the air.

Pyrrha was impressed as Blake merely placed the piece of paper on the table and turned the page of her book, tilting her head slightly as she listened to Jaune and Ruby talk about Beowolves.

Narrowing her eyes, she saw Cardin starting to wad up another piece of his notebook. Before he could do anything with it, he ducked his head as a pencil zoomed past his head, impaling itself into the wall with a dangerous accuracy. He followed it's flight path as he met eyes with Nora who raised a pencil, gripping it on both sides before she snapped it in half with a wicked smirk.

Blissfully unaware, Jaune looked around. "Where's the teacher? He's going to be late at this rate."

"Ah, about him..." Jane started off.

A moment later Oobleck had zoomed into the classroom, leaving a wide eyed Jaune.

"He..."

"Right! Class! It seems today we have a guest student. Mr. Jaune Arc. Stand up please. Very good. Now sit down. Where we left off yesterday was... ah. Right! So mountain Glenn."

Jaune just had awkwardly stood up and sat down. He looked to Pyrrha for help, who just offered him a helpless shrug.

"Don't worry about it."

Jaune just turned his head, focusing on the teacher again as he realized the topic had already completely switched. He had no idea what they were talking about. He tried for a few minutes, frowning as he tried to decipher what the teacher was saying.

He felt someone poke his arm as a piece of paper slid next to him. Scrawled on it was a simple.

 _I have no idea either._

Looking up, he saw Jane offer a friendly smile. One lost cause to another. Below the was a little hangman set up with dashes.

The class ended eventually, though Jaune had no idea how much information had been crammed into that tiny period. Still, he had fun playing with Jane at least. They had both tried to pay attention, but when they were feeling particularly lost they would take a turn on hangman, giving them some sort of respite.

"Oh! My book!" Ruby said, having forgotten it in the classroom.

"I'll get it!" Jaune offered as he turned, running to get it until he ran into something. Or someone. Before he could figure out what he had bumped into, he felt a sharp shove as he once again fell onto his back.

"Watch where you're going." Cardin mocked. "Don't want to run into anything dangerous around here."

He just walked off with a wave, figuring it wasn't worth the trouble to mess with him further as he saw Pyrrha come and help him to his feet.

"I really will break his legs you know."

Jaune laughed a bit at Pyrrha's joke, though it trailed off when he noticed she seemed to be serious.

Before he could think of anything to say, he was suddenly tackled from behind as Ruby wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pointing ahead.

"Onward! You're going to love what comes next Jaune! Now run!"

"What?" Jaune asked, confused.

A sharp slap on the back made Jaune jump a bit as he turned to see Nora grinning. "You heard her! Now we run! We run to our destiny!"

Jaune stammered, confused until Ruby kept pushing him from behind, forcing him to start running.

Soon Nora, Jaune and Ruby were all running down the hallways.

Pyrrha just laughed at her friends antics as Yang emerged from the classroom, putting Ruby's book she had forgotten again in her bag. "Don't want to fall behind!" She said as she grabbed Blake's hand and dragged her along as she started running.

"They're so childish." Weiss scolded.

Pyrrha just laughed again, sharing a glance at Jane, before they took off running to catch up with their teammates. Weiss and Ren remained behind, staring after their teammates. Ren just shrugged after a moment. "They always say, When in Vacuo, do as the Vacuans do." Ren offered before starting to run as well.

Weiss just stood there. "D-Don't leave me behind guys!" She called as she started running as well.

Before long the group ended up in the training arena, panting and out of breath.

"Beacon... so big... do you always... run..." Jaune asked, collapsing on the ground.

Ruby just laughed, laying next to him. "Nope!" She said cheerfully.

That left Jaune speechless, before he burst out laughing.

"Mr. Arc. Ozpin informed me you will be spectating us today. It is a pleasure to have you in class. I hope you may learn something from watching." She said, walking up as Pyrrha offered Jaune a hand to stand up as Yang practically pulled Ruby up from the ground with one hand.

Jaune scrambled a bit. "Oh! Glynda! Thank you."

Everyone turned to look at him. He hadn't heard of the other teachers, but he knew Glynda.

"How do you know Gly... Professor Goodwitch?" Yang asked.

Jaune laughed nervously. "Well see, Alice attended Beacon like I said. While she was a student, she may have caused an... incident or two. That required a parent teacher conference. I met Glynda once or twice before at those meetings when I went with my parents.

Glynda nodded. "Let's hope you don't cause as much trouble as your sister, shall we?" She offered, a bit of a threat in her simple statement. "It's good to see you grew up well though Jaune." She added with a brief warm smile. "Now get to a seat to watch! Class is beginning." The warmth was gone.

Jaune saluted out of nerves as Pyrrha snickered at the Arc family, before ushering Jaune up into the stands for a good vantage point as the class started.

With every fight, Jaune found himself more and more impressed with the fighters, drawn in by all of their battles. There were many visiting students for the festival by this point, even if the festival was still a while away.

Pyrrha just smiled, content with watching Jaune as he lit up during every battle, often leaning over to ask questions, or saying "You gotta teach me that." The redhead would merely answer the questions, or make a note to try and fit whatever he had seen into their lessons if it would be appropriate.

Jaune had grown up, watching tournaments on TV. That much she had known. He had seen some of her fights before they met, even if he didn't know who she was very well. He didn't pay much attention to the actual people, rather just being impressed with seeing the fights. But Pyrrha knew first hand how different watching a fight on TV and watching a fight live could be. Part of her wanted to volunteer for a match, feeling the smallest hidden desire to show off for him. She was content sitting up here with him though, it was a rare pleasure her busy life didn't grant her too often.

Her gaze shifted back to the fight.

Jane stood across from Cardin, her Aura meter on the screen a few ticks above his. She slowly reached up with one hand, as she tightened her short blond ponytail she had made to keep her hair up for this fight. She tightened her grip on the greatsword as she crouched down slightly, waiting.

Cardin readied his mace as he dashed forward, going for a wide swing straight to her head.

Dropping down, she ducked the swing as she ripped her greatsword out of the ground in a powerful spin, knocking Cardin's legs out from underneath him.

Before he could recover she had planted her sword back in the ground as she swung around the handle, planting both feet into his side, sending him tumbling across the arena.

Jaune let out a cheer as he leaned forward. "Jane is so awesome!"

Pyrrha smiled. "She sure is. She may be a tad shy of a person, but she knows her way around a fight. It seems she was an only child, and her parents were both hunters so she was trained from a young age. She's says shes much more comfortable fighting than talking."

"Aren't we all?" Ruby mumbled, before letting out another cheer gleefully as Jane and Cardin continued to fight.

Jaune's smile faltered a bit at the mention of her parents training her. His eyes snapped back to the field as Cardin's mace exploded against her greatsword, sending her sliding across the arena. Both of their Aura was dropping pretty low, meaning that this fight would probably be over soon.

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked a bit nervously. Jane certainly seemed a bit more skilled than Cardin did, but Cardin's power was just as scary as Jane's was. Plus his boldness made him more like a Grimm than a standard fighter.

Pyrrha nodded. "I have absolute faith in my partner. I believe she will be fine."

Nora grinned. "No one beats our fearless leader Jane!" She thought for a moment. "Buuuutttt just to be safe." She stood up suddenly.

"Jane! We're rooting for you. Jaune is impressed with you, don't let him down." She called out loudly.

Jaune's eyes widened. "What!? I don't want to pressure her."

Pyrrha just sighed, shaking her head. A soft smile crept on her lips. "Don't worry about it, Nora just ensured Jane's victory. Let's just say Jane responds... well to praise and encouragement. Watch closely." Pyrrha said with a smirk, already being able to see what would happen next.

Jaune's attention went back to the field as she saw Jane looked back at Nora, then Jaune before she slowly smirked.

"It's over now. You're gonna lose in front of your boyfriend." Cardin taunted as he swung his mace in his hand once.

Jane's eyes narrowed. "He's not my boyfriend." She said a bit too loudly, earning a blush from Jaune. Focusing her strength, she launched herself up in the air.

Cardin's mace only hit air as he swung, as Jane fell back to the ground.

Pulling the trigger on the hilt of her greatsword, the ground exploded as she stabbed it, standing Cardin flying.

He managed to get a foot on the ground, but before he could right himself, Jane was in front of him, crouched low with both hands on her greatsword. "He's Pyrrha's boyfriend!" She called out determinedly, as she let out a powerful swing, sending both Cardin and a gust of wind flying as she won the match. Jane stabbed the ground, wiping sweat from her brow as she turned to Jaune and Pyrrha, giving them a victory sign.

The rest of Team RWBY and JNPR burst out cheering in support of Jane as Pyrrha and Jaune were both staring at the ground, blushing red, putting Pyrrha's head to shame.

"We're not..." Pyrrha started.

"...going out." Jaune finished, to the nobody that was listening. Still, a moment later they were cheering for Jane too.

Jane just grinned as she made her way back to them.

"That was an excellent fight. Though perhaps, a bit messy." Glynda appraised, as she swished her crop and fixed the hole in the ground. Checking the time she let out a sigh. "It seems we don't have much time left today. Maybe enough for one or two more. Let's see..."

Jaune glanced over at Ruby, who had the rest of team RWBY huddled with Nora and a reluctant Ren.

A moment later and Ruby shot up, waving at Glynda.

"Teacher! Jaune should fight!" Ruby said with a grin at Jaune.

Jaune stood up in surprise. "What!? No- I I can't!"

Glynda nodded. "Having our guest fight a student has the potential of going poorly. Accidents can happen with weapons and we wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

"Then how about Mr. Arc spars against his usual partner?" Ozpin's voice rang out suddenly.

Glynda turned around. "Sir, are you sure?"

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "I trust Ms. Nikos, who has been training with Mr. Arc every week, has enough restraint to avoid any injury. I'm sure Mr. Arc would also enjoy the chance to fight on a stage."

Glynda sighed, realizing once again Ozpin was making a risky call. "Ms. Nikos would you be willing to spar against Mr. Arc?"

Pyrrha stood up suddenly. "Of course! If, he wants to of course." Pyrrha glanced over at Jaune, gauging his expression.

Jaune stood there, scared. "I..." He glanced around, seeing the reassuring smiles of his friends, and the thumbs up Nora and Ruby were offering him.

"Just do it!" Yang said after a moment.

"Okay!" Jaune said determinedly. It was just a spar after all. It's not like anyone expected him to win. Hell, he couldn't even land a solid blow on Pyrrha. He paused after a moment. "I... don't have my weapon or armor with me." He realized after a moment.

The Ruby and Nora collapsed on the ground. "I forgot about that." Ruby mumbled, defeated.

"Yeah you do. Jaune, think fast! Chest!" Alice's voice came from the hallway.

At the words think fast, Jaune's eyes snapped to attention. In a blur of motion his head had snapped towards the source of the noise as he stepped back and brought his hands up to the center of his chest, and braced himself. A moment later his backpack slammed into him, scooting him back a bit as he struggled to get the wind back in him.

"Pyrrha! Up!" Alice continued as she lobbed something up.

Looking up, Pyrrha saw Jaune's shield with his sword sheathed in it, flying through the air. She caught it with her polarity, harmlessly bringing it back down and handing it to Jaune, who had finally recovered.

"Those were some impressive reflexes." Blake offered, at Jaune catching the backpack that had been launched at a blinding speed. Yang let out a whistle of appreciation.

Jaune stared ahead, a bit shell shocked as he recalled countless bad memories.

He laughed grimly. "When you sister's semblance is the ability to propel things at insane speeds, you learn to listen to her when she tells you to catch stuff. It's... bad if you don't. Trust her, not your instincts." He let out a shiver as the rest of his friends had a moment of silence for him.

"Alice Arc! Please do not launch dangerous projectiles in my classroom." Glynda scolded as she turned around.

"It was just a backpack! Not a 'dangerous projectile'."

"Everything you touch is a dangerous projectile." Glynda countered as she sighed. "I thought I was free of having you in my classes."

"Nope. Tough luck Glynda." She challenged with a smirk, earning another annoyed sign from the teacher. "Go get changed Jaune." She ordered.

Jaune nodded, glancing once more at Pyrrha who offered a comforting smirk.

"It will be fun. Let's just do our best, okay?" Was her quiet offer.

Jaune smiled and ran off with his bag as Ren lead him to the boy's locker room to get changed in to the clothes and armor his sister had brought for him.

A few minutes later and Jaune and Pyrrha were standing across from each other in the arena, while people watched curiously.

One of the top students versus a blacksmith? They had no idea what to expect, knowing Pyrrha wouldn't be a ruthless opponent that would make it a stomp, nor would she toy around with her foe.

Glynda walked up, looking to Pyrrha. "I trust you to restrain yourself, but please do take care. It's easy to get caught up in a fight, and I'm sure no one here wants an accident."

Pyrrha nodded. "Of course."

"Very well then, begi-" Glynda was cut off as Alice landed on the ground next to her. "Wait!"

Before Glynda could even respond, Alice was already dragging Jaune back a few steps as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear. He turned to look at her in shock, earning a few curious gazes.

"That's impossible. I..."

Alice glared at him. "Don't say it's impossible. Trust me, you know me. I don't lie to you. It will be worth it."

Jaune looked at her for a moment before sighing. She was right after all, Alice wouldn't lie to him. She also knew him better than anyone else.

"Fine. Deal."

Alice cheered triumphantly as she walked over to Pyrrha. "Here's the deal Red. Me and Jaune made a bet. If he lands a solid blow on you just once, he wins. If he doesn't before you eliminate him, I win. There are stakes riding on this. I trust you to be fair. Don't give him a freebie since you have a crush on him either other wise I win." She paused for a moment. "Don't think I can't tell the difference either. I have very _very_ good eyes." She threatened.

Pyrrha just widened her eyes. "I..."

Alice waved her hand dismissively. "Trust me, you'll be happy with the results I think."

Pyrrha nodded. "Okay." She said, a bit confused.

"Get on with it!" Someone yelled from the stands, causing Alice to turn around and shoot a glare, causing him to flinch. "When you're ready..." He mumbled.

Alice smirked, before moving between Glynda and Pyrrha. She placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, her grip tightening to a point causing Pyrrha to squirm a bit.

"I also trust that you wont humiliate my precious little brother in front of all of his friends and these students either." She said, her gaze hardening at she stared at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha nodded meekly. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good!" Alice said with a friendly slap on her back.

Alice stuck her tongue out to Glynda as she walked away, before jumping and landing next to Yang on the bleachers.

Pyrrha and Jaune just stared at each other, unsure how they ended up being wrapped up into Alice's scheme. More importantly, just how long had she been planning this?

Pyrrha let out a deep breath, calming herself. She couldn't afford to get distracted when facing off against Jaune with real weapons. Even if she was still far his superior, she knew better than to let her guard down against anyone, especially against someone lacks the experience to hold back in case of an accident. Or, heaven forbid, she got distracted and hurt him.

Shaking her head, she grinned at Jaune. "Just like practice. It's just you and me right now. Don't worry about the bet. Just do your best. Now come on Jaune!" She challenged, as she took a defensive stance.

Pyrrha had her plan. She would stay on the defensive. Only really pressing an attack as a counter to chip away at his aura. Pyrrha figured the best way to save his dignity, and to teach him a lesson would be to make him look like he's pressuring her, while slowly teaching him where the holes in his defense were when he attacked. She didn't want another incident like the Ursa a few months ago to happen again.

Jaune grinned and charged forward. Sure he was distracted by the lights, his cheering friends, the interested parties from afar. But Pyrrha was right. Right now, it was just Pyrrha and himself.

Sticking to what he knew, he kept with his combos.

Trying anything new or rash against Pyrrha in a match would only lead to her shutting it down completely. His best bet was to stick with what he knew, what he could do solidly and hope an opportunity presented itself.

As he swung his sword, Pyrrha blocked them with ease. She wasn't going to use her semblance unless she needed to. Sticking to traditional sword and shield combat rather than kicking it up a notch with her semblance, seeing as he still was unaware of his.

Pyrrha was proud he was sticking to his combos. Sure Pyrrha knew them, as she had taught him them, but the blows had a solid amount of strength behind them, the movements were clean, and more importantly, he had learned most of the mistakes he made when using them.

Most.

As his shield raised a bit to high when he went for a downward swing, Pyrrha blocked his blow before slicing his side with her sword.

His aura dropped a reasonable amount. Not the strongest blow she could have managed, but it got the point across.

The next time he struck down with his sword, she tried the same counter and found it met his shield. She beamed at him, he certainly was thinking.

"You got this Jaune!" Ruby called out.

"Do your best!" Jane offered a bit nervously.

"Now kiss!" Yang called, causing both fighters to blush and halt their fight for a moment to glare at her.

Blake hit Yang in the side, holding back a smirk. "Behave."

"Jaune! Focus!" Pyrrha said as she struck out, hiding her own blush behind her shield.

Jaune jumped back, trying to catch his breath. This wasn't working. He wasn't even close to landing a blow at this rate, not that he had much hope of it in the first place.

Pyrrha let him catch his breath. Normally she would have pressed the attack more, but this was still a training match, and Pyrrha hadn't pushed him this hard before during training. The spectators seemed interested, eager to know if Jaune was going to land a single blow against Pyrrha. Most didn't believe he stood a chance, but Pyrrha's defensive position gave them the hope Jaune might find a way since he wasn't being pressured. The opportunity was his to take.

Alice was glaring at Jaune from her seat, causing yang to scoot over nervously. "This isn't working. He had to fall for the one girl who's a prodigy in the damn class. Why couldn't it be a hothead like Yang." She mumbled to herself.

Yang was going to protest, but Alice's expression changed her mind. Alice stood up suddenly.

"Jaune! Focus! Stop and think! Think. Those months weren't a waste were they?"

Jaune looked at his sister, before snapping his guard back as he feared Pyrrha sneaking up for an attack, but instead Pyrrha was just smilingly warmly at him from a defensive position. She was giving him a moment to think.

Jaune thought for a moment. When he glanced up at the big board, he saw his Aura was about half way. He couldn't take too many more hits, and Pyrrha seemed to be honest. She wouldn't give him a free hit, and he wasn't about to do the forfeit his sister had warned him about.

He knew he wasn't going to get through her guard like this. Plus, her weapon was too versatile. He paused. _Her weapon._ His mind raced as his planned form.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow as Jaune slowly smirked. She readied herself for his next attack, but it didn't come. Instead Jaune was bracing himself behind his shield. He was waiting for her.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. He had a plan, and she would be more than happy to spring it for him, not that she was going to go down easy.

She pressed an attack, as she swung her sword. Jaune deflected it, swiped back before hopping back a step.  
Pyrrha paused for a moment. Why was he keeping distance? He was a melee fighter, she wouldn't lose at a ranged fight. Surely he knew that right?

Switching her sword to a rifle she fired off a few shots as Jaune quickly closed in.

Hopping back, Pyrrha switched back to a sword, swinging it only to meet air as Jaune had moved back again.

Switch to her javelin form she quickly swung it, striking him from outside his range. He blocked most of the hits, but he couldn't close the distance enough to strike back.

Jaune hopped back again as Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what his plan was, his aura was just dropping at this rate. Even people in the audience seemed confused.

"Get in there Jaune!" Ruby called out, confused as to why Jaune was choosing a losing battle.

Pyrrha switched to her rifle form as she fired off a few shots, hitting his shield mostly, a few landing on his legs.

Jaune stepped forward and Pyrrha started to switch to her javelin form to continue the fight at mid-range.

Her eyes widened in surprise as Jaune rushed forward with a burst of speed she hadn't seen before in the fight, having anticipated her switch.

He swung his shield in a wide shield bash as it collided with her weapon as it was still in the process of changing forms. Her arm was forced back as she struggled to keep her rough grip as the tiny delay in switch caused her grip to be looser for a moment while she switch from holding it like a rifle to a javelin.  
Jaune wasn't done though, his sword struck down from above as Pyrrha brought her shield up, blocking the blow. That was clos-

Pyrrha stumbled a few steps to the side as she felt his foot collide with her side. Her aura meter dropped ever so slightly as the arena went silent.

Pyrrha looked up at the board, before looking at Jaune, who stood there panting.

She just grinned at him as she placed her weapons on her back. "You win."

The crowd exploded. Most of the people were standing up and cheering for Jaune. Some were in disbelief and some were muttering about Pyrrha throwing the fight.

Jaune's eyes widened as he stumbled backwards before dropping onto his butt, out of breath.

Pyrrha just smiled, before she giggled, before she burst out laughing. She just clapped for him.

Sure the fight wasn't technically over, as the damage Jaune had inflicted had been negligible and most of the aura loss she suffered from was just her own exertion, only the smallest percent being from that blow. Her bar was practically still full and Jaune's was hovering a dangerous orange. But she didn't dare take this moment from him.

She walked over, reaching a hand down to Jaune and help him up. "Well done Jaune!" She praised with a grin.

"Did you..." He asked her in surprise.

Pyrrha just shook her head, unable to suppress the grin on her face. "I promise you, you landed that kick fair and square."

Jaune just grinned in surprise, as suddenly he felt himself being swept up into arms as Alice swung him around in a bear hug. "You did it little brother!"

Jaune hugged her back, partly trying to push her away so his spine didn't snap. "It was just a single hit." He muttered.

Alice set him down, punching his shoulder. "Jaune. You've never attend a fighting school before, and through your hard work you landed a blow through Pyrrha Nikos' defense. It may be a small feat, but everyone starts somewhere."

"Besides, a fight can be won and lost in a single blow." Pyrrha offered, immensely proud of her partner.

"How did you do that?" Jane asked as she ran up with the rest of JNPR and RWBY. "You weren't getting through to her before."

Jaune glanced at Pyrrha, as if asking it was okay.

"I would like to know to. After all, I want to improve as well." She offered honestly. A weakness was a weakness, and if Jaune was able to capitalize on it, surely another foe would be able to too. One she didn't trust to have her well being in mind. "I told you before. We all can learn something from everyone.

Jaune scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I noticed it when I did maintenance on your weapons a few times. When your weapon goes directly from it's rifle form to it's javelin form, the delay on it to fully switch is slightly longer than all the other variations. It's pretty insignificant, but it causes your grip on it to be awkward for that brief moment. That was my best chance to try and pull off a miracle, since you wouldn't be able to attack back as well. If I missed that opportunity than I was out of luck." He explained, a little nervously.

Pyrrha just stared at him, impressed. She was aware of that fact herself for the most part, but never dreamed anyone would capitalize on it. Her foe would have to know about it, and be ready for it, waiting for it to even affect her in combat.

Jaune wheezed a bit as he tried to catch his breath.

Ren walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Let's go get you changed." He offered, going to let him into his locker where he had stored Jaune's stuff before the match.

As Jaune nodded and walked to store his stuff again.

Alice just watched her brother walk away, beaming with pride.

"That was kind of you to let him strike a blow like that." Weiss said with a warm smile.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Weiss scoffed slightly. "I meant I know you two are smitten with each other, but I doubt that goof could land a single blow on you in combat, even if he has improved under your tutelage. You're Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed as she shifted her stance.

Alice opened her mouth to speak but was cut off as Pyrrha held out an arm.

"Jaune landed that blow fair and square. I would have imagined that you, of all people, would understand that, Weiss Schnee. Just because I am 'Pyrrha Nikos' doesn't mean I'm not human. I'm just a student with more experience than Jaune. I'm not invincible. I am not what others say about me, as I'm sure you understand. Jaune may not have the experience _yet_ to beat me in combat, but that single blow, however minor, was earned completely and honestly by his hard work." She finished, gazing at Weiss a bit harshly.

Weiss' eyes widened. Her gaze dropped to the ground as she fidgeted slightly. She certainly did understand. She would not be just what her father wanted her to be. She was not just this perfect daughter he had tried to force her to be. Her life was hers. "You're right." She offered after a moment. "I apologize for assuming."

Pyrrha just shook her head, smiling warmly. "Don't worry about it."

Everyone just moved off to the side as Glynda got the attention of the class again. "Now then, for our final battle."

"Actually, we have a special event in store." Ozpin said suddenly, walking out from where he had watched the previous fight with a simple interest.

Glynda raised an eyebrow, realizing once again her class was going to be disrupted by his whims.

"Ms. Arc has agreed to give us a demonstration."

Everyone's attention snapped to Alice who was just grinning. She shrugged. "I owed him for letting me set this all up."

Alice walked out into the center.

"Now then. Shall I be your partner?" Glynda offered.

Alice shook her head. "Nah, it'd be no fun against you. I want to choose..." She started off, glancing at all the students. She frowned, no one seemed particularly interesting. Her gaze lingered on Ozpin for a moment who just stared at her, sipping his coffee and raising an eyebrow. She shook her head, even she wasn't that crazy. Her gaze went to the two teams that were waiting for Jaune. "Pyrrha."

"Me?" Pyrrha asked shocked.

"Of course. You'll be the most fun. Besides, I don't think you're too winded from your fight against my brother, are you?" She asked.

Shaking her head, Pyrrha smiled nervously. "No, I still have almost all of my Aura left. But a fight..."

Alice shook her head. "Not a fight. A _demonstration_." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you think you can beat me in a fight?"

Pyrrha stepped back, waving her arms. "No. I do not." She quickly denied. Confidence was one thing Pyrrha had, but common sense was one of the others.

Letting out a laugh Alice just smiled. "Come on, it'll be fine. Oz just wants me to display how a professional huntress fights. I won't hurt you, and you're tough enough to take it."

"Hey Alice, why is your weapon in my bag?" Jaune suddenly asked as he walked out holding it.

"Cause I'm gonna fight your girlfriend."

Jaune dropped it on the ground. "What?! Pyrrha. Don't do it."

Pyrrha just smiled at Jaune, before turning to face Alice.

"I'll do it."

A dangerous smirk just crossed Alice's features as Pyrrha started to regret her decision. She had wanted to impress Jaune, but maybe she bit off more than she could chew. Still, glancing back at Jaune she realized once again why she had fallen for him. He didn't back down against her challenge, so Pyrrha couldn't either. Pyrrha wanted to stay by Jaune's side, and she could only do that if she got stronger. So she would keep moving forward. For her sake, and for Jaune's, she would keep moving forward.

XxXxXxXxX

I hope you enjoyed that! That took forever to write. This was inspired by a much earlier review by Cinderella Girl626. Normally I know what I want and what direction I want to take a story, but something they had mentioned made me add this chapter into my plan. I really hope you enjoyed it. It took forever to write. I planned on working on my piece of art for this today after I finished the chapter but this pretty much took up my whole day. I actually planned including the Pyrrha vs Alice fight when I sat down to write this but I'm already 7k words in and I dont want a chapter to be too long.

Anyway, thank you all for the reviews! And the favorites. And the follows! I appreciate them all. This story still has a decent amount left in it, but I do have a plan for my next story I'll likely work on after this one.

Last but not least, two things. One is the timeline of how long terms last, and the timespan between the breach happening, and the start of the vytal festival is a little vague. I'm assuming there was a few months, and if there wasn't... shhh... there are in my story. I want some more time before the Vytal festival starts.

Also everyone is freaking out about the fate of Pyrrha. All I can say is read my other stories. I have a few on here, but most of my are on my tumblr at .com That's where I've posted all of them. I'm a writer of a specific style, and that's pretty pretty obvious. So while I wont say what my plans are for Pyrrha, you might be able to hazard guess. Which I will neither confirm nor deny for the sake of spoilers. All I will say is I do have a plan for the ending, so what will happen is set in stone, and was from the first words I wrote.

If you are reading this far still, thanks! I hope you have a wonderful freaking day!

P.S. I still am working for the piece of art I'm making for this story, but it's a little elaborate and taking some time.


	12. The Demonstration

Pyrrha walked out of the changing room, trying to calm herself. She had fought in front of crowds for her tournaments. She had found herself outnumbered, surrounded by creatures of Grimm that wanted nothing more than her extermination. The only thing that had made her heart beat faster than now was finding Jaune broken in Forever Fall. And now, she was about to fight the person that had saved her life back then.

A combination of excitement and terror filled her body as she walked. She knew that she wouldn't be hurt, despite all of Alice's "rough" personality traits, she was a kind person deep down. This was just a chance for the class to see a professional Huntress in action, and she knew she would learn leagues from this opportunity. That didn't mean her stomach didn't drop when she saw Alice standing in the center of the arena, her massive spear piercing the ground next to her.

On the outside, she appeared calm. Her facade never betraying her concerns. However, Jaune stepped around the corner as she approached, and it only took a moment for him to see past her walls.

"Hey Pyrrha." He offered with a hesitant smile.

Pyrrha just took a deep breath, smiling at him. "Come to give me advice?"

Jaune just smiled. "If you would like me to."

"Feel free to tell her anything you want~ It won't help." Alice called out in a sing song voice before snickering, until she was hit by Glynda's crop, making her rub the back of her head.

Pyrrha shook her head. "Thank you Jaune, but I'd rather attempt this on my own. I want to learn everything I can from this fight. I'm very lucky to have this opportunity and I think I want to face it with my own skills.

Jaune nodded his head. "Gotcha. Well I'm rooting for you out there! You're going to be so cool." He flashed her a smile one more time, before he turned and walked towards Alice.

Pyrrha felt as if a weight had fallen off her shoulders at his smile. She stood up tall, and felt another surge of confidence. She would do her best. This was her chance to impress Jaune, and she wasn't going to let it pass her by.

As Pyrrha walked out onto the battleground, she saw Jaune approaching Alice.

"Awww Come to wish me luck little brother?" Alice said with a smirk.

Jaune's face was hard however. "Alice! This isn't a game. Pyrrha's... important to me. You can't go overboard and hurt her. I know you can get carried away."

Alice just smiled, pulling Jaune into a headlock and messing with his hair. "Aww! My baby brother is so cute when he's worried about his girlfriend. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt your little friend. This is just a demonstration."

Jaune flailed, trying to pull himself free from his sister's grip. "If she gets hurt, I'm not making anything for you for a month." The ultimatum was offered to her.

Alice pouted. "That's no fair! Why aren't you worried about my health? Pyrrha's scary~ You're precious older sister could get hurt too you know."

All that earned was a laugh from Jaune. "It'd take all of team RWBY and team JNPR to hurt a monster like you."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "What did you call me?"

Paling in the face, Jaune realized what he had said. "Nothing! Just be careful. For both of your sakes okay? I don't want either of you to get hurt."

Snickering and pushing Jaune away Alice just laughed. "Got it. Got it. Now get a good view of this. I'll show you how a REAL Huntress fights." She offered, glancing over at Glynda with a smirk, earning an annoyed sigh from the teacher.

Standing there patiently, Pyrrha had just been laughing at the siblings antics. It both warmed her heart, and made her concerned that Jaune was so concerned for her well being. Most people didn't underestimate her, usually the opposite, which meant her opponent was really something to be careful with.

"Now then, both parties be careful. This is just a demonstration. I've raised the Aura minimum a little, just to ensure no accidents happen, _Alice_. Begin!" Glynda instructed.

Deciding to take the first move, Pyrrha rushed forward as she struck out with a wide horizontal swing.

The massive spear Alice used as a weapon was still impaled in the ground, as she had made no move to free it while Glynda was instructing them. She merely kicked the side of the spear, as it tilted and intercepted Pyrrha's swing, before she grabbed the middle of the pole, before she kicked the bottom again as she spun it effortlessly around her hand, blocking another strike from Pyrrha, before she spun it again as she slammed the base of the handle into Pyrrha's gut, making her slide backwards.

"Wait! Wait! Geez, student's these days have no patience. I never asked you Pyrrha, how serious would you like me to be?" Alice said with a sigh as she placed her spear back in the ground.

Pyrrha paused her attack, surprised at just how easily she had been deflected. Sure she hadn't put everything she had into her attack to gauge her opponent's style, but she realized she really couldn't hold anything back.

"I hope to learn as much as I can from this fight so that I can become a better Huntress. I want to protect everyone I can." Her eyes glanced to Jaune, who was leaning over the railing, watching the fight with eager anticipation.

Alice followed her gaze, before laughing. "Alright. I gotcha. Jaune already thinks I'm cool, so I guess I'll teach you a trick or two since you've been helping out my brother. I'll let you show off a bit."

Alice removed her spear from the ground as she flipped a switch. The blade shrunk and vanished into the hilt, leaving her with a bo staff.

"You know, Jaune helped me design this when he was a kid. Said these weapons were awesome." Alice offered. "Get ready."

She spun her staff around her arms before she flipped it in the air, catching it and balancing it on one hand.

Pyrrha readied her guard as she hesitantly watched Alice balance her weapon on one hand, as if preforming for the circus. Feeling a twinge of annoyance at the Arc daughter's seemingly lack of interest in the fight, she moved forward to strike.

With a flick of the wrist, Alice dropped her staff before catching it like a javelin and throwing it.

Honestly, Pyrrha thought she had been ready for her attack. Her shield slammed against her chest from the sheer impact of the projectile as she slid back a few feet, but Alice was pressing the attack. She spun the staff around her as she continued to strike at Pyrrha from different angles, distracting Pyrrha's eyes with the spinning to mask her movements so Pyrrha had less time to react to where the angle the strike would be coming from.

"Your shield is small. You can only cover so much of yourself with it, if you can't figure out where the strike is coming from, you have no hope of guarding it. You need to be prepared for people faster than you." Alice offered, as she struck down with a blow from above, before following it up with a blow towards the side of her head, which Pyrrha had managed to block, before Alice dropped down and swiped at her legs.

Pyrrha barely managed to jump to avoid it, but Alice was just smiling as planted a foot into Pyrrha's shield, sending her flying mid air as she was caught in the middle of her jump.

Letting out a whistle of appreciation she smiled. "You really can move there, kid."

Pyrrha landed smoothly as she recovered, but when she looked up Alice was gone.

Quickly scanning from side to side, she tried to figure out where the sister could have possibly gone. She had only looked away for a brief moment.

"Above!" Jane's voice called out from the stands.

Pyrrha's head snapped up, and she saw Alice high in the air.

Her staff had transformed into a long range sniper rifle. What made Pyrrha's stomach drop was the apparent caliber of round it fired.

Pyrrha raised her shield, as the first shot collided with it. A wave of pain shot through her arm at force that had collided with her shield.

Pyrrha quickly dashed to the side, trying to avoid being a stationary target as Alice fell, firing off rounds. While the pace of her rifle was much slower than Ruby's, the impact wasn't comparable.

Blocking another shot, Pyrrha kept her eyes on Alice. She could fire only one more round before she landed at her rate of fire and height.

Raising her shield as she guessed Alice's target, she felt like her leg had blown off. Pyrrha dropped to her knee as she winced. Her aura had absorbed the impact just fine, but the blow had knocked her off balance. Another shot rang out, as Pyrrha heard the whiz of the bullet shooting right by her head. She even saw some strands of hair fall to the ground as her eyes widened, seeing Alice kneeling on the ground, her rifle trained on her head.

"You know I don't miss, right?"

"Pyrrha!" Jaune's voice called out concerned. His sister seemed to be having too much fun, which made him increasingly concerned for Pyrrha's well being.

"Like I said, your shield doesn't block much. Staying on the defensive against those faster, or out of your range will just be your downfall. How do you handle this, Ms. Nikos?" Alice taunted as once again she propelled herself high in the air.

Tightening her grip on her sword, Pyrrha knew Alice was right. Normally most ranged people had weaker weapons. Student's her age weren't dangerous enough to keep Pyrrha from closing the gap. But Pyrrha wasn't fighting a student at her level. She was fighting a full blown huntress, with a weapon designed to take down serious threats. She wouldn't be able to do anything if she continued with her normal style of fighting.

Glancing over at Jaune, his concerned expression lit the fires of frustration in her.

Alice fired off another shot, but this time Pyrrha was ready. She had already transformed her sword into a javelin, knowing that in a battle of firepower her rifle would be like a pea shooter.

Before Alice could fire again, Pyrrha had launched her Javelin at her. Rolling to the left, Pyrrha dodged another shot as she threw her shield as well.

Smirking, Alice transformed her rifle back to a staff as she swatted away the javelin and the shield. She was transforming back to a rifle as she fell for one last shot, when Pyrrha's shield slammed into her from behind.

Before she could recover, her rifle glowed black and shot towards the ground, pinning Alice beneath it.

A cloud of dust erupted from the impact as Pyrrha moved her weapons back to her. Students in the audience began to murmur as Jaune just stared at Pyrrha in shock.

"Is she okay?" Jane asked Jaune nervously.

Shaking his head, he turned his gaze back to the dust. "I'm not worried about her. Now I'm worried about Pyrrha."

Standing up, Alice wiped off some dust from her armor as she just laughed.

"I friggin forgot you can do crap like that." She said, shaking her head. "Now that, that was impressive. And it hurt." She said, rubbing her neck.

Pyrrha took a deep breath. She needed to keep a calm head. From the looks of it, Alice wouldn't go back to using her rifle, but that meant she still had to deal with her up clos- She was ripped from her thoughts as Alice appeared in front of her, her staff sliding off the top of Pyrrha's shield.

Eyes wide in surprise, Pyrrha had barely managed to react enough to knock the thrust off course. She continued to do her best to deflect, rather than directly stop the continued assault from Alice. Waiting for her chance, as Alice went for a higher strike, Pyrrha raised her staff with her semblance, forcing it to swing above her, throwing Alice off balance, as Pyrrha struck out quickly, trying to apply pressure to stop Alice from getting the upper hand.

It worked, to a degree. The continued assault from Pyrrha meant that Alice was stuck defending, but Pyrrha wasn't breaking her guard.

By this point the class was cheering on Pyrrha. Knowing she couldn't let them down, she had to press onward.

Smirking Alice nodded her head in approval as she blocked another blow from Pyrrha. "Good! Good!"

Flipping a switch, the weapon's blade extended suddenly, before releasing an electric shock that travel through Pyrrha's shield, stunning her for a moment while Alice kicked her away.

Alice just grinned as she stabbed her spear into the ground again. "Pyrrha Nikos, you're a very very good fighter. I haven't had this much fun in a while."

Pyrrha forced herself to her feet. "I've learned a lot in this fight. Thank you."

A dangerous look crossed Alice's face. "This fight isn't over yet. But it's about to be."

"Alice, stop!" Jaune said suddenly, leaning over the railing.

"Ms. Arc. Perhaps we should stop the fight here."

Alice just shook her head. "Oh relax. I'm not going to hurt her. Hey Red, should we stop here, or do you want to see why I'm a huntress. Why the Arc family has been well known for generations. Do you wanna see some of the Arc family strength that I know my brother will one day show." She asked, dangling the bait in front of Pyrrha.

Nervously, Pyrrha glanced over at Jaune who was still trying to get Alice to stop. Even Glynda seemed hesitant. Alice though, she was challenging her. Pyrrha knew if she let this chance go by, she might not have the opportunity to see the true strength of a huntress first hand for a while.

"When you're ready." Pyrrha said, getting in a defensive stance.

Alice just laughed as she pulled her spear out of the ground. "God, I love you. That's the fight spirit we need to see. You're going to fit right in the family."

"Alice!" Jaune started to protest until Alice cut him off.

"Just watch! You want to be a hunter Jaune? This is what it means. Facing danger with the look of determination your girlfriend has on right now. Don't insult her determination. Learn from it." Alice snapped, quieting her brother.

Shifting his glance to Pyrrha, Jaune saw a dangerous level of focus coming from the red head as she seemed to practically glow with energy.

"I'm coming straight at you. Head on, Red. I wouldn't recommend blocking it." She warned, completely serious.

She pointed her spear directly at Pyrrha as she leaned forward. Gripping it tightly, she took a deep breath. "Control yourself..." She mumbled to herself. She couldn't get too worked up, no matter how much fun she was having. This was still a student, prodigy or not.

Leaning back, she propelled herself and her spear forward as they dashed towards Pyrrha in a blur, kicking up dust.

Instantly Pyrrha knew, if Alice hadn't warned her about what to expect, there was no hope she could have reacted in time. The fight would have been over. This attack was faster than anything she had seen a student do, only teachers could move this fast, or Ruby with her semblance.

A black glow had covered Alice's spear since shortly before she had attacked. It took every ounce of strength Pyrrha had, but she had managed to divert the course, just enough that it would fly past her in the brief moment of travel time.

What she hadn't expected, was Alice's hand that had shot out and snatched up her ankle as she flew past her, rocketing towards the wall.

A yelp of surprise had left Pyrrha as the sudden jerk of her body had caused her to drop her sword and shield as they were ripped from her hands.

The spear impaled itself into the wall, as Alice landed just above it, cracking the wall from the impact as she held onto Pyrrha, and swung her into the wall.

The wall cracked again as Pyrrha collided with it, before she dropped to the ground.

A wave of pain crashed through Pyrrha, but Pyrrha knew she had to do something.

In a moment, it was over.

Alice had one knee on Pyrrha's back, one knee on her wrist. She held Pyrrha's other hand behind her back.

Desperate, knowing she was beat, Pyrrha used the last of her strength to summon her weapon towards her from across the arena, having it fly at Alice with her outstretched hand.

Alice caught the blade, stabbing it into the ground inches from Pyrrha's face.

"I win." Her voice was serious for a moment, before her usual smirk returned. She leaned down, whispering in her still pinned opponent's ear.

"You might want to remember this in case you ever hurt Jaune." She warned before she stood up, letting Pyrrha free.

Laying there for the briefest moment, Pyrrha forced herself to her knees. Looking up she saw Alice offering her a hand and a warm smile.

"You really are amazing. That fight was fantastic. I certain chose right by picking you. Everyone else would have been boring."

Pyrrha stared at her for a moment, before smiling and taking her hand and standing up. She stumbled a bit, before falling back against the wall.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out desperate as he ran over, Glynda already reaching them. Ozpin was merely strolling casually.

Pyrrha waved off their concerns with a tired smile. "I'm fine. Just... tired. And sore."

Alice just grinned, scratching the back of her head. "I may have over done it just a tad. Look, your Aura is fine though! I carefully managed my hits. I wasn't going to let you get hurt."

Surprisingly, Pyrrha realized Alice was right. A few blows, and the electric shock are all that Pyrrha had directly received, aside from the one rifle shot. Her body had been worn down, and her Aura was certainly lowered, but Alice hadn't directly landed anything dangerous despite being in control of the fight most of the time. The final dash had placed her just into the elimination zone.

"Ms. Arc! That was incredibly dangerous." Glynda threatened, clearly not satisfied with the woman's explanation.

"Alice! You said you wouldn't go overboard! What if Pyrrha had been hurt?" Jaune asked, his fist clenched as if he wanted to take a swing at his sister.

Pyrrha placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, it's okay. She didn't go beyond what I had asked her for."

Ozpin walked up and smiled, before addressing everyone in the room.

"Ms. Arc was right. We are Huntsmen and women. This is not a profession where you're level of strength is taken into account, and you are also not always able to run away. Sometimes you do need to stand and fight, even when your opponent seems like a foe who you have no chance of beating. It is important to know when you must fight, and when to stay your blade, but Ms. Nikos has shown the courage required in such a situation. Ms. Arc handled the situation with enough care that Ms. Nikos has avoided injury, but what if Ms. Arc wasn't so inclined? What if she had been a foe who wished her harm? Or a creature of Grimm that wanted nothing more than to destroy. That is why we train here. That is why we get stronger.

Alice was not born at this level. At one point she was a beginner, as Mr. Arc is. But she also had promise, like he does, and grew to this level through years of training and hard work. Now I hope you all think carefully about where you want to go during your time in the academies, so that you may all stand before you foes with the strength of Ms. Arc and the courage of Ms. Nikos."

Glynda just sighed. There wasn't much she could say after that speech. "Class dismissed." Was her only remark, knowing both that fight and speech meant she had lost the chance to teach anything else for the day.

Staring at the ground, deep in thought, Jaune wrestled with his own thoughts.

Alice just smiled and placed a hand on his head, messing with his hair. "Sorry for being so rough with your girlfriend. I just wanted to make sure I taught her properly. She's tough though."

Jaune looked up at her, before glancing Pyrrha to see a confirming nod. All he could do was let out a sigh. "I'm still not baking for you." He said defiantly, earning a pout from Alice.

Pyrrha just laughed, as the rest of team RWBY and JNPR caught up.

"Pyrrha are you okay?" Jane asked worriedly, running over and helping Pyrrha stand up.

A tired smile was all Pyrrha could offer. "I'm fine, don't worry. Just a little tired and sore."

Jane nodded, looking at Alice with a bit of a glare.

"Hey! Pyrrha knew what she was getting into. It's not my fault the prodigy is out of practice of losing a fight." Alice taunted with a smirk. Walking over she patted Pyrrha on the head. "She did really well though." Looking over at Jaune, she smirked. "I'd avoid making her mad at you. You won't stand a chance." Glancing sideways at Pyrrha, a mischievous glint reached her eyes. "Though, I think Pyrrha will remember herself."

A shiver wracked Pyrrha's spine as she nodded meekly, remembering Alice's threat very clearly. She had always heard the threat from the over protective sister, but feeling it first hand put it in an entirely different perspective. Pyrrha had a feeling she was joking, but it was a gamble she wasn't really willing to take.

"As I recall, Ms. Arc. You also found yourself in a similar position after you challenged a certain dusty old Qrow when he visited after graduating." Ozpin said with an aged smile.

Alice just pouted. "It's not my fault everyone in my year was no fun to fight. I had to learn somewhere."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "No fun to fight? If I recall correctly, you participated in quite a few matches with a certain Al-".

"Enough reminiscing!" Alice said, getting frustrated about her days at the academy being dragged up.

"I must be getting back to work. I'll leave you with this, Ms. Arc. I do not take kindly to my students being so roughed up, especially during what is just supposed to be a demonstration. Do keep that in mind the next time you want to visit." Ozpin warned, his voice dropping his playful tone for the briefest moment.

All of Alice's confidence fled her body as her nerves became evident. "I understand Ozpin, Sir. It won't happen again."

Jaune snickered as Pyrrha bit back a smile. She had a feeling she had seen the displeasure of Ozpin first hand before.

"Well, good day then. Wonderful matches everyone. It was good to see you two Arc children, tell your parents I say hello. I look forward to you two visiting again." He offered before walking away calmly, a warm smile back on his face.

Glynda just shook her head, glancing once more to make sure Pyrrha was indeed okay, before she left as well. It was their last class for the day, so the students now had free time to relax, and hence were no longer her immediate concern.

"What were you snickering about Jaune? Feeling all confident because you landed a hit on Pyrrha? Maybe I should kick up your training a lot." Alice said, setting her sights on Jaune as she pulled him into a tight headlock.

All the students started laughing as Jaune desperately plead for mercy while struggling to free his head.

"Ah, I forgot!" Alice said suddenly, effortlessly holding onto the squirming Jaune as she glanced over at Pyrrha who had caught her breath again.

Reaching with her free hand, she pulled out her scroll. "Let's see... Perfect! It's set."

"What is?" Jaune asked, his arms limp as he gave up on his freedom. It was just a fleeting dream for him at this point.

"Your date."

Everyone's jaw dropped as they turned to stare at Jaune. Pyrrha felt a fist clench around her heart. Perhaps he had met someone in the stands earlier? She figured he certainly had impressed some of them. It was good for her friend that he had found someone.

"With who?" Jaune asked, earning another round of confused expressions. Was Jaune going on a blind date?

"Pyrrha of course."

"WHAT?" Both Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other, blushing red as they looked for answers from the other.

"Congratulations!" Nora said cheerfully. Yang just grinned and slapped Blake on the side. "You owe me twenty." Yang said triumphantly.

Jane hugged Pyrrha happily. "I'm so glad!"

Ruby just stared at them, grinning from ear to ear. Weiss politely clapped, while Ren offered Jaune an approving smile.

Pyrrha and Jaune just looked at each other, equally confused. Why did neither of them remember setting up this date.

Alice just cackled at the expression on her brother and his soon to be girlfriend. "Remember the bet?"

Jaune's eyes widened as Pyrrha looked at Alice confused.

"You never told me what the reward was." Jaune said, still flustered.

Smirking, Alice shook her head. "I told you you'd like it. The Arc sisters pulled some strings to set up the night, but dinner is on us."

A shiver shot down Jaune's spine. Alice scheming was bad. Alice and Bia was worse. All of his sister's could accomplish anything. Jaune knew first hand that nothing could stop the Arc sisters during the rare moments they worked together. "Where?" He asked hesitantly.

"The Rainbow Dust Room."

Most of the students there stared in confusion, until Weiss's jaw dropped and she was about to start speaking until she choked in her shock, coughing.

Ruby slapped Weiss on the back, helping her regain her composure as she looked at Alice in shock.

"Have you heard of the place ice queen?" Yang asked curiously.

Weiss cleared her throat, fighting off the faint blush from losing her composure. "Yes, I have. It is a very _very_ highly regarded restaurant. The nicest in Vale, I've only been there once. It is _very_ expensive."

This time all the students' jaw dropped. Weiss never said anything was expensive.

"Uh sis, are you sure that's a good idea?" Jaune asked nervously. He knew his family wasn't stupid enough to blow all their money on a dinner for him and Pyrrha.

Alice just laughed. "Oh relax. I called in some favors from some missions I did. Also, Bia happens to be dating the son of the owner, and she managed to sweet talk him into helping us out."

A look of concern crossed Pyrrha's face as she saw Jaune pale. "Jaune?"

"It's fine. Bia is just very very good at convincing people to do what she wants." He said, recalling some not so fond memories of suddenly finding himself agreeing to go shopping with her, not quite sure how the conversation ended up out of his favor.

"Enough of the nitty gritty details. We worked that out. The date is set for tomorrow."

"We never agreed to this!" Jaune said suddenly, blushing hard.

Raising an eyebrow, Alice glanced at her brother. "Are you saying you don't want to have dinner with Pyrrha?"

Everyone stared at Jaune, making him shrink slightly.

"That's not what I'm saying at all... You can't just make plans for Pyrrha." He mumbled. Glancing at Pyrrha he looked for answers. "Are you okay with this?"

Pyrrha could only mirror his blush. "I am. I... I wanted to reward you for coming so far with your training. S-So this could be a good reward to relax. A night out."

"Right! It's just a reward for working so hard. Just us hanging out on the town." Jaune added, glad he found a loophole.

"Right!" Pyrrha eagerly agreed, relieved the pressure of calling it a "date" was suddenly lifted. Not that she was particularly against the idea. But it let her heart rate drop to healthy levels again.

"Oh my God, you two." Yang said, dropping her head into her hands as Blake patted her back.

Alice stared at Jaune, raising her hands like she was about to strangle him before sighing. "Good enough, for now."

Thinking for a moment, Alice clapped her hands together as she remembered something. "Right! I almost forgot, hey Red. Do you own anything fancy? You guys don't have to worry about acting perfectly proper there, we explained the situation. But you should still look presentable and I don't think armor would be much appreciated there."

Thinking for a moment, Pyrrha weighed her options. "I think I can come up with something." She did still have her dress from the dance.

What she was unaware of though, was the dangerous look both Yang and Weiss got in their eyes. "We got this. Don't worry about a thing Alice." They said together, stepping forward.

"Oooo stylish Yang and a Schnee helping out? Jaune, you aren't gonna stand a chance." Alice said appreciatively.

Pyrrha shot Yang and Weiss a grateful look, she certainly would appreciate the help getting ready.

"We're not going to lose though. We've had far more practice dressing up Jaune." Alice said confidently, cause Jaune to blush and punch his sister in the side.

"Don't make it sound weird!" He scolded, staring at the floor like he hoped it would open up and swallow him.

Pyrrha just walked over, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. She offered him a warm smile.

"I'm looking forward to it." She said, the faint blush still dusting her cheeks.

Jaune let out a sigh before smiling. "I am too."

They just looked at each other for a moment before Alice let out a soft "Awww" and Nora squealed.

A faint "kiss kiss kiss" was heard from Yang.

"You two are adorable. Now I gotta drag Jaune back before dad gets mad, but he'll pick you up tomorrow at 6. We'll have him ready by then. Yang, Weiss? I'm leaving Pyrrha to you two." Alice said with a smile, throwing an arm around Jaune's shoulders, starting to steer him away from the auditorium.

Yang saluted. "We won't let you down!"

As Jaune was being lead away he turned around to his friends. "Thanks for letting me attend classes today! And thanks for the Spar Pyrrha! I'll see you tomorrow!" He called out as he was being pulled around the corner by his sister, ignoring the mumbling about work cut out for them.

Pyrrha just stood there, waving politely at her friend as he was dragged away. Taking a deep breath, she turned around, to seven pairs of expectant eyes.

"Well... that just happened." Before she could even think of anything else to say, Jane had dashed forward and wrapped her arms around her partner, hugging her tightly while grinning.

Pyrrha just gently hugged her back, her thoughts still on the Blonde that had been dragged away. Her heart felt like it was beating a thousand beats per minute. The thought of the dinner they were going to share had shoved all the thoughts of her sparring match, or fight with Alice far from her mind. She would be able to reflect on that later, for now she was trying not to psych herself out before tomorrow.

She turned to Yang and Weiss, about to ask them if they were serious about helping her when they saw them both on their scrolls, typing and talking away. Yang flashed her a thumbs up, and Pyrrha realized she might have just lost custody of the rest of her day.

Still, all Pyrrha could do was smile. Tomorrow she would have a chance to go out with Jaune, whether it was a date or not, and just be with him out on the town. Her heart soared and she felt deep down that everything would be alright. A warmth filled her chest as she realized the distance between Jaune and herself was getting smaller.

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Thank you for reading! This chapter was pretty fun to write. Originally this chapter and the last one was supposed to be merged, but these both ended up being massive chapters in their own right. I guess I underestimated how long I would take to describe things. I hope you enjoyed it though! I had been wanting to write this fight since I got the review suggesting he tours beacon. I originally didn't intend on including Alice so much, but I honestly fell in love with her character. I'll try to reign her back in the next few chapters. She just ended up being a great way of making Jaune's side of the story feel more substantial to me, like two lives meeting rather than Jaune being attached onto the life at Beacon.

Regardless, I'm excited for the next two chapters. (Even if I need to plan out the date completely still) and the one after that is just one of my favorite types of chapters to write personally. I also learned I don't know ANY fancy restaurants, learned about the Rainbow Room today when I asked for a name of a place. xD

Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you're all doing wonderful and that you have a great day! Thank you for all the reviews as always, and I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of my story! :D


	13. The Not-A-Date

Super sorry for the delay! I explain a bit afterwards. Heads up, longest chapter so far.

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha tried to ignore the snickers of her teammates and friends as she paced back and forth. They had finished doing up her hair a few minutes ago, and she was all dressed up. All that was left was for her was to meet up with Jaune. She was still a few minutes early though, so she had nothing to do to calm her building nerves.

Jane was sympathetic and trying to offer her some friendly idle chatter to occupy her, but Pyrrha kept getting distracted, her eyes drifting over to her scroll.

Weiss and Yang were cleaning up all the supplies they had brought over to help do Pyrrha's makeup and her hair. Pyrrha had insisted that they didn't do too much, and they both agreed. They felt Pyrrha really shone without too much make-up on, and Weiss had admitted that she felt Jaune wouldn't be one to notice or really appreciate it anyway. That was a fact all had agreed on, a bit reluctantly. He wasn't the most observant after all.

Giving up on pacing, she sat on the edge of her bed, placing a hand on her chest and breathing deeply. They were just going out as friends for a dinner as a reward for him working so hard. It was simple. At least, that was the lie Pyrrha was trying to convince herself of.

When her scroll chimed, Pyrrha jumped up. Reaching her hand out to summon it to her, her heart was racing too much and it zoomed across the room like an arrow, causing Jane and Yang to duck as it right near them, narrowly missing before it landed in Pyrrha's hand.

"I'm sorry!" She apologized quickly as she saw the text. "He's here!" She said, looking to Jane in a bit of a panic. "Wait, that's good." She said, suddenly remembering her nerves were cause she was happy, not out of sadness. She started grinning. "He's here!" She repeated, in a much more elated tone.

Yang leaned over to Jane. "Is she going to be okay?"

Jane offered an exasperated smile. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her like this before." She said with a weak laugh.

Pyrrha stood up, quickly putting her scroll in her purse. Normally she wasn't one to carry a purse around, but her current outfit was annoyingly devoid of any sort of pockets, so she had to relent. She took another deep breath, trying to calm herself. She was acting far too out of character. Pyrrha was just concerned about going on a not-a-date with Jaune. Due to her upbringing and her fame, she never had the chance to form many close bonds, let alone dream of dating.

Normally when she was with Jaune, they were fighting or training, which gave Pyrrha a baseline to start from. Even during the ball she found herself surrounded by her friends for support, and was much more like a formal occasion she had attended before.

Just the two of them, eating dinner, was much more intimate than she had experience with.

"You look amazing! Are your shoes okay? You shouldn't have to walk too far, but neither of you have your license." Yang offered.

Pyrrha smiled, walking a few steps just to be sure. They had insisted on rather fancy footwear, but Pyrrha had managed to talk them down into more comfortable heels, knowing that she would be back to training tomorrow and she couldn't afford to be dealing with sore feet.

"They're just fine, thank you." She reassured. Pausing at the door, she smiled at her friends. "I'm off. Thank you for all your help."

Yang just waved her off. "Don't worry about it. You'll pay us back in details later." She teased with a wink, earning a blush from Pyrrha.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to find a reply, but suddenly found words failing her. She turned, quickly making her way away from her room, towards the front of Beacon where she knew Jaune would be waiting for her.

Back in the room, Yang and Weiss highfived as Jane and Nora snickered in the corner of the room, excited to hear the results of how their teammate's date would go.

As Pyrrha made her way there, she ignored the curious glances from the various students littered around beacon. The star student dressed up certainly was enough to provoke curiosity in the student body. Some could guess who she would be going to be meeting, but others saw it as an opportunity.

As Pyrrha walked, her mind in a daze as she thought about all possible combination of first words she could say to Jaune, she failed to notice a second year beginning to approach her.

Judging by his smirk, and his confident walk, it was pretty easy to assume what his intentions were. He failed to even register on Pyrrha's radar as she walked, unintentionally on a collision course with her pursuer.

However, before he could "accidentally" bump into Pyrrha, he found himself "accidentally" bumped into as a lady cloaked in brown stood over him, staring down at him with a threatening gaze. She lowered her sunglasses as she raised an eyebrow. "Can't you tell she has plans? Perhaps you should stay out of her way from now. I heard from my precious underclassmen that she's been looking forward to this night." Coco said stared down at the boy.

"Coco! You didn't need to knock him over." Velvet said worriedly as she stood nervously behind her, eyes flickering as she looked over at Pyrrha who had missed the whole interaction. After hearing Ruby and Yang teasing Pyrrha earlier, she certainly felt relieved to see their friend having the chance to find someone in her life. Though, velvet had to admit she was curious as to who could capture the champion's heart.

Ignorant of the shakedown that she had just passed, Pyrrha's pace sped up and slowed down periodically as she debated between rushing to Jaune, and trying to slow down to make it look like she wasn't too eager.

Before long however, she found herself at the gate of Beacon, seeing a certain blond fidgeting with a tie. Seeing him struggle a bit with trying to get it straight, made her laugh and immediately she felt the weights of stress fall away. Suddenly all the pressure of the night seemed distant.

"Would you like some help with that?" She asked with a small chuckle.

Jaune turned to her, eyes wide and face flushed. "If you wouldn't mind." He said, giving her a warm smile.

Pyrrha's heart fluttered a bit as she knew, tonight was already worth it, regardless of how the rest of the evening went. Stepping forward, she quickly straightened his tie as she stepped back.

"Is the tie too much? I told Alice I didn't need it but she said it was important." He rambled a bit nervously.

Looking him over once, Pyrrha realized she needed to thank Alice later.

To Pyrrha, Jaune had looked good in the formal clothes he had worn to the ball, however now her heart had skipped a beat.

Jaune was waring a simple black two piece suit, but it had clearly been tailored to fit him as it rested on him perfectly. A plain black tie hung around his neck, disappearing behind his closed jacket. Even his hair had been slightly groomed, though Pyrrha appreciated that it still had remnants of the shaggy mop that she had come to love seeing. Seeing him in a proper tailored suit made him look older and more mature, versus his usual hoodie and jeans. A blush creeped onto Pyrrha's face, as she was suddenly grateful again that she had let Weiss and Yang take charge. "You look very handsome tonight." She praised warmly.

Jaune let out a sigh of relief as he looked at her, finally noticing what she was wearing. "You look – wow." He forgot how to speak for a moment.

Pyrrha's dress was similar to the one she wore to the ball, but made her slightly more mature. It was a rather simple red dress, with a slit down the side to allow for movement. The neckline of the dress was slanted, with just one strap to it over the left shoulder. Her hair was still in it's signature ponytail, but with a hairpin in it and the hair was curled slightly as it cascaded down her back in a much more controlled manner than usual.

Seeing the shy embarrassed smile on Pyrrha's face made Jaune's stomach drop as he suddenly was very grateful for all the effort his sisters had put in cleaning him up, and realized they weren't joking when he was going to have to look his best to keep up with her tonight.

"You look gorgeous." He stammered out finally.

"Thank you." Pyrrha responded simply, her face matching her dress as she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

"Yes yes, you both look amazing. My sisters and I, as well as your friends are all praise worthy. Now quick, move closer for a moment." Alice said suddenly as she walked out hiding behind a pillar.

"I thought you left!" Jaune said suddenly.

Alice snickered. "Nah, I just wanted to see you two react to each other. Don't worry, I'm leaving. But I know of at least 8 people who would kill me if I didn't get a picture of you two, and I'm pretty sure two of them could actually do it."

Jaune and Pyrrha just shared a gaze, before they started snickering. Their friends certainly could be a bit nosy, and Pyrrha had a feeling some of Jaune's sisters wanted to see their investment pay off. At least the tension was gone.

"Now I need another picture, look at me quickly!"

Pyrrha and Jaune both turned their head and looked at her, the echo of laughter still in their smiles as they turned and the camera flashed.

"Perfect!" Alice said triumphantly.

"But I wasn't ready." Jaune complained.

Waving her hand dismissively, Alice smiled. "That's why it's perfect. It's natural. I'm not making you pose for an awkward prom photo."

Jaune grumbled, but knew she was right. Trying to pose for a proper photo would have been nothing but awkward.

"Another photo?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly, not missing what she had said.

Alice snickered and turned her scroll around, showing the pair a picture of Pyrrha's fixing Jaune's tie as they were only inches from each other.

Pyrrha had to admit it was a good photo, but she blushed. "Don't take photos of us without us knowing!" Both Jaune and Pyrrha said at the same time, before they glanced at each other and looked down blushing harder.

Alice just burst out laughing as she tapped a few buttons on her scroll. Suddenly both Jaune's and Pyrrha's scroll sounded as they both received a message from her.

"Matching backgrounds are cute. Make sure to set it later. Now you should be on your way, you don't want to be late." Alice teased as she turned and started to walk away, still snickering to herself. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she was really happy for her brother. They certainly seemed to be a wonderful pair together, they seemed healthy for each other. She knew things were now out of her hands, she just hoped those two would be able to get through the night without trouble.

Glancing at each other, both Pyrrha and Jaune let out a sigh of relief before starting to laugh.

Dealing with Alice certainly had managed to kill the awkward tension of just meeting up.

Soon, they boarded the airship, as the upper class section of Vale happened to be the furthest part of the city away from the school, so walking in their current attire would be a little impractical.

They both sat on one end of the airship, laughing and enjoying each others company as they ignored the rest of the world.

Some of the other passengers were a bit curious as to why the pair were dressed in extremely formal attire, but more found themselves a bit jealous of the laughter and smiles that the pair seemed to be sharing from the corner of the ship.

By the time the airship had landed and they were walking down the streets of the upper-class portion of Vale, Jaune and Pyrrha were completely at ease. That also meant however, their guard was down.

Pyrrha had been living at Beacon for quite a while by now, which meant that many of the residents had gotten used to seeing the "Pyrrha Nikos" walking around the town, seeing her as just another student rather than a celebrity. However, the upper-class section attracted both visitors, and many who had yet to meet with the celebrity.

Suddenly finding their conversation interrupted, Pyrrha looked over as a little girl was running up to her. "Pyrrha Nikos!" She let out a squeal of joy as she began to panic.

"Hello there." Pyrrha said a bit reluctantly, shooting a nervous glance over to Jaune.

Jaune smiled reassuringly. Jaune was more than aware of the fact Pyrrha could be stopped by fans. They had talked about a lot during their months together, and Jaune had heard stories about what it was like to be a recognizable huntress. He was aware that Pyrrha felt very grateful for all of her fans, so he didn't mind waiting a little so she could greet them.

Stepping back a little, he gave Pyrrha some space as the girl's freakout drew more attention to her, drawing some others over to see the great "Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha smiled politely and greeted all of them, a bit concerned about the size of the crowd. It didn't always happen, but from time to time she could find herself trapped greeting fans for a while, as she felt too awkward to tell them she wanted to leave.

She signed various things, and posed for photos with her fans for a few minutes. They were all asking her various questions, complimenting her dress and her hair, her latest fight, telling her she was their hero. All of it made Pyrrha's heart swell a bit. She was honored she could be a hero to so many young girls and boys. Though she had to admit some of the attention it gained her from some of the older folks made her a little uneasy.

Some more time passed, and Pyrrha glanced over at Jaune again. By this point, the crowd had surrounded her, having pushed him farther and farther away.

He once again offered her a smile, but she felt a fist clench around her heart as she saw the hint of sadness that echoed in his smile. It was clear he was feeling a little ignored, but based off the smile he had offered her he understood that she wanted to be kind to her fans.

This was supposed to be their night after all.

The blonde dropped his gaze to the ground as he kicked a few pebbles around with his foot, wandering a few steps away as his shoulders slumped. By this point, most of the fans around her probably didn't even know she was supposed to be with him. They didn't even care either, they just wanted to meet with her.

Clearing her throat, she got the attention of those clamoring around her.

"I really am honored to meet you all, and I'm flattered by your kind words. But I'm afraid I must leave, I have to catch a reservation." She said kindly, but determinedly as she made her way through the crowd.

"Dinner? With who?" Came one of the voice, a reporter from the looks of it.

Glancing over at Jaune's shocked expression, a smirk creeped onto Pyrrha's face. "With my date of course. Now if you'll excuse we, we must be going."

With that, Pyrrha wrapped her arms around Jaune's as she hugged close to his side, glancing back and winking at the crowd as she began to lead them back towards their destination, leaving a stunned crowd behind.

Still in shock, Jaune let himself be lead along by Pyrrha, slowly smiling as he saw her smirk turn into snickering.

"Something funny?" He asked, still a bit red from being called her date.

"I'm sorry! It's just that reporter. His face was priceless." She thought for a moment, her smile faltering. "I'm afraid I may have caused you some trouble in the future when those pictures get out."

Jaune shook his head, smiling reassuringly. "It's no problem. I'm sure my parents will appreciate the publicity.

This caused Pyrrha to laugh, the sound like music to Jaune's ears. "I'm sorry to tear you away from your fans." He said after a moment, very real guilt underlining the apology.

Pyrrha looked up at him, frowning. She stopped walking for a moment, trying to figure out the proper words.

"I... appreciate my fans very much. I have been very blessed to have so many. But tonight, it's about us Jaune. We're to enjoy a meal together, I'm afraid my fans will just have to understand that. Tonight you are my priority Jaune, not my career."

That final sentence earned a blush from both of them. Jaune nodded meekly, unsure of what he could possibly say in response to that.

They started walking again, both letting the weight of what Pyrrha had said sink in.

"But I admit, it was nice being able to be free. I'm sure you will also alleviate some of the attention I'd rather not get." She offered after a moment, looking over at him with gratitude.

Offering a smile, Jaune nodded. "I'm glad I can help. You know we're away from them though, you don't need to hold onto my arm if you don't want to anymore." He offered, noticing she was still locking arms with him and walking next to him closely.

"I know." She said with a cheery smile, not letting go. She giggled slightly at Jaune's blush as he kept walking.

Smiling sheepishly, Jaune glanced at Pyrrha. "I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of questions tomorrow when the news gets out. They're probably going to call us a-"

"Arkos?" A voice said suddenly.

Pyrrha and Jaune both looked up confused. Jaune wasn't going to say that. That was just his sister's nickname for them.

"Arkos, I presume?" The voice repeated.

Jaune noticed they were standing in front of the restaurant. The maitre d' smiled at them, waiting for confirmation.

"Uh, yes." He said quickly, realizing that must have been the name his sisters had arranged them under. Of course it was.

"Right this way." He said, motioning for them to follow.

"Arkos?" Pyrrha asked curiously as they walked.

Jaune just sighed. "It's our names mashed together. My sisters came up with it."

"Oh." Pyrrha said, lost in thought.

Moments later they were sat down at a table.

Looking around, Jaune suddenly felt extremely out of place.

All around them were clearly very rich patrons. Successful huntsmen, businessmen, politicians. Many wore jewelery, held them selves professionally. Sure his sisters had given him some reminders on proper manners, but he felt much more comfortable near a forge, versus this high class situation. Glancing at Pyrrha, she seemed a bit uncomfortable but certainly more at ease. He figured she was more experience with situations like this.

"Uh..." He struggled to find something to say.

He perked up as he felt Pyrrha's hand reached over, gently squeezing his.

"Hey, look at me. It's okay, it's just us. No one cares about two students eating dinner." She offered reassuringly.

Taking a deep breath, a smile crept on Jaune's face. "Right."

Satisfied that Jaune seemed more relaxed, she picked up her menu. "I've heard wonderful things about he..." She trailed off as the prices jumped out at her. She had eaten at a fancy restaurant or two before, but these prices...

"Welcome! Arkos I presume? Or should I say Ms. Nikos and Jaune! It's wonderful to meet you."

A voice rang out, causing both Pyrrha and Jaune to look up from their frightful menu. A smiling man that looked like he could have handed out movie awards was standing next to the table, perfectly at ease in such a tense atmosphere.

"The pleasure is mine." Pyrrha offered, trying to piece together who this friendly fellow was. He seemed a bit to casual to be just a waiter.

"Oh! You must be Josef." Jaune said after a moment, piecing it together. Glancing over at Pyrrha he smiled. "He's dating my sister. He must be the one who helped pull this night together." He offered her.

Smiling, Josef bowed his head slightly. "Correct! Your sisters came to me with this request, and we were more than happy to accommodate such a situation. Young love is so precious after all." He said with a slight swoon in his voice.

Jaune and Pyrrha both blushed, staring down at their laps.

"Of course, Dinner is on the house tonight! Order what you will, but I'm afraid the wine menu is off limits of course." He explained politely, earning a nod from both Pyrrha and Jaune understanding. They hadn't planned on drinking even if they could anyway.

Coughing a bit nervously he leaned over to Jaune. "If you could tell your sisters afterward that you enjoyed yourselves tonight, that would be a very large... relief."

Jaune smiled sympathetically. Very obviously his sisters had applied some pressure on the poor man. "Of course. I'm sorry for them, they can be a bit... pushy. But you made them very happy, I'm sure my sister will find a way to make it up to you." Jaune offered, watching the man's face relax.

"Very good. Now then, I'll give you two some time to decide. Let us know if you need anything." He said formally, before bowing his head and leaving to attend to other matters.

"Well, that's very generous them." Pyrrha said after a moment, looking at the menu with renewed interest. If prices truly weren't a concern, Pyrrha's interest was certainly piqued. There seemed to be a lot of interesting dishes here. "There's so much." She said in awe, looking at all the different options. Many of them were also beyond her limited scope of understanding food. Usually her agent would offer her recommendations beforehand, or she'd go with whatever she recognize. Glancing up at Jaune, she was surprised to see him studying the menu intently.

"Hmm... Perhaps the filet mignon?" He mumbled, debating. Glancing up, he realized he had been lost in the menu. Smiling sheepishly he looked at her. "Have you decided what you want?"

Shaking her head, Pyrrha returned his sheepish smile. "I'm in a little over my head I'm afraid. I enjoy eating good food, but I'm not very knowledgeable about choosing it." She confessed. "Do you have any recommendations?" She asked with a spark of hope. The redhead had to bite back a laugh as she saw her date's eyes light up in eagerness.

Nodding eagerly, Jaune thought back over what he had learned about her appetite. "How hungry are you tonight? Is meat okay or would you prefer something lighter. We should stick to something healthy if you have to return to practice tomorrow." He began to analyze the situation, making Pyrrha smile.

Normally, it was obvious Jaune could be a bit of an airhead. He wasn't the best at social cues, and when it came to just walking around he could be a hazard to anyone when he held a sharp object. But when he was focusing with tools in his hands, or he was preparing food, she saw a level of focus that really made him stand out to her.

"I am rather starving tonight. I think I would love to try some of the stake here." She decided to be honest, forgoing attempting to undersell her appetite.

Jaune nodded eagerly, flipping through the menu. After a moment, he nodded in confirmation to himself before setting down his menu. "You'll love this."

Before Pyrrha could ask what he had picked out for her, the waiter showed up.

Jaune smiled, handing him his menu. "I'll have the Grilled King Salmon with Asparagus, Morels, and Leeks. And just water please." He said politely, his eagerness leaking out.

When the waiter turned to Pyrrha, Pyrrha glanced at Jaune expectantly.

"She'll have the Steak Au Poivre with Shallots & Rum Sauce."

Glancing over at Pyrrha, the waiter looked for confirmation.

Nodding a bit sheepishly she added "and just water please."

"As you wish." He said, taking both their menus as he quickly made his way away from their table.

Looking up at Jaune, Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow. "What exactly did you order for me?"

Smiling nervously Jaune shifted in his seat. "Ah. Pepper steak with Shallots and Rum Sauce. It was one of the recommendations from my sister, it's healthy, and I'm pretty sure you don't mind the seasonings. Sorry, I should have confirmed."

Pyrrha shook her head. "Not at all, Jaune. I asked for your help. It sounds absolutely lovely. I'm looking forward to it." She assured earnestly.

"Good." Jaune replied a bit awkwardly as they glanced away from each other. Their conversation had crashed and burned already, and they hadn't even gotten their drinks yet.

"Here you go." The waiter replied, making them both jump as he poured fresh water into their glasses, leaving them a pitcher. He quirked an eyebrow at seeing how jumpy the extremely young patrons were, but shook his head and left them alone again.

Glancing at each other, they took a sip at the same time before they gently set down their drinks, their gazes sliding to the floor again.

Pyrrha wanted to say something, after all she had been the one to reassure him that no one else cared that they were there, but the words failed her. The setting didn't seem right to discuss combat, their usual topic, and many of her stories from Beacon involved battling Grimm or training.

After another moment of awkward silence, they both reached for their glasses again.

The pair paused when they saw each other drinking at the same time. Their gaze met for a moment, before they both started laughing, setting down their drinks to avoid spilling them.

A minute later they both regained their composure, ignoring the curious and judgmental glances from the other patrons.

"What are we doing?" Pyrrha asked after a moment.

Jaune shook his head, sighing. "I don't know. I'm just nervous." He confessed.

Pyrrha smiled. "I am too. I'll admit this is a bit out of my comfort zone."

"We're two teens sitting in one of the nicest restaurants in Vale, with no idea what to say to each other, because my sister has nothing better to do than meddle in my life." Jaune explained, with a soft sigh.

"I'm just glad I can here with you at least. And I'm sure the food will be lovely. We should be sure to thank Alice and the rest of your sisters."

Jaune nodded. "I should get them a gift, after all without them I wouldn't be able to be sitting here with you." He returned, watching Pyrrha's blush grow to match his own.

"I suppose I should find a way to thank my teammates and friends too." Pyrrha offered, going over options in her head.

"They certainly didn't seem to mind helping my sister." Jaune said with a small laugh. "Students of Beacon seem to love finding their way into trouble."

Pyrrha laughed, setting down her drink again after taking a sip. "You have no idea. Just last week during class, Yang got this idea.."

A little while later, when their food was delivered, Jaune and Pyrrha were snickering quietly, laughing as they swapped stories about their friends and families. They looked up, not realizing how much time had passed as their plates were set in front of them.

They thanked the waiter, and looked eagerly down at what was waiting for them.

Jaune's mouth was already watering, but he looked nervously at Pyrrha.

Taking a whiff, Pyrrha let out a pleased sigh. "You chose very well Jaune."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jaune was glad she was happy with what he had chosen.

Pyrrha took a bite, and her eyes widened. "This tastes even better than it smells."

Eager to try his own plate, Jaune dug in himself. They looked at each other for a moment, each staring at each other in surprise at the wonderful dish. This was much better than anything that had had before.

Their conversation died down as they both quickly wolfed down the food, both absolutely stunned. This place certainly had it's prices and reputation for a reason. Beacon certainly didn't shy away from providing good food for their students, but this was on a whole different level. Even Pyrrha had to admit she couldn't remember having another meal that had been that delicious.

It had earned some disapproving glares from some of the other patrons, but both of them had to let their companion try their dish. They realized they really did have to come up with a way to pay back the Arc sisters for setting this up.

Almost too soon, forks were scratching against empty plate as they had both cleaned their plate completely clean. Looking at each other with a satisfied grin, they slumped back in their seats slightly. Moments later, waiters had already come and cleared the plates from their table.

"That was amazing." Jaune said in shock. "I need to learn how to cook like that."

Pyrrha smiled. "I'd be more than willing to be your taste tester."

They both laughed slightly as they slowly resumed their conversation from before.

However, before long they realized that the restaurant still had plenty of patrons waiting to be seated, and they shouldn't hog the table after they were done eating. Jaune managed to flag down Josef again, looking a little helpless about if they were just able to leave.

"I trust the dishes were to your liking?"

"They were absolutely mouthwatering. Please, send our compliments to the chef." Pyrrha said politely, her appreciation of the food evident.

"As you wish. As I said before, both the meal and the tip has been covered beforehand. You are free to go." He said graciously. He paused for a moment, glancing at the blond. "Though, if you wouldn't mind mentioning to your sister that you enjoyed your evening out tonight, I personally would appreciate it."

Jaune just laughed, offering a smile. "Of course, I'll let her know just how well we were treated here." He offered.

Satisfied, Josef bowed again slightly before disappearing back to attend to his duties.

Jaune stood up, reaching into his pocket as he fished out his wallet, pulling out what little lien he happened to have on him, he set it down on the table, surprised to see Pyrrha placing money right next to him. Glancing at each other, they were surprised they both had decided to make the same gesture. Some part of Jaune noticed Pyrrha's stack of Lien was larger than his, but he figured her tournament winnings, combined with her rather conservative nature meant she wasn't exactly pressed for cash.

"I guess great minds think alike, huh?" He said with a nervous chuckle.

"The food was very delicious. Even if it was paid for and this isn't much, it only seems right that we leave something for their hard work." She added.

Stacking their tip together, they quickly made their way out of the restaurant into the evening air. It was getting late, but wasn't quite straight dark out.

The second they had left the restaurant, Jaune let out a sigh of relief. The pressure of acting formal, watching how he ate, managing his posture, seemed to slip his mind. Once again, he was just out with his friend Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was feeling similarly. Proper events always made her feel a bit on edge, though experiencing it with Jaune certainly made it worth it.

"That was wonderful." She said appreciatively, as she felt a bit bold and leaned into Jaune, holding onto his arm again.

Jaune was a little surprised for sure, but didn't even dream of complaining as he leaned against her as well as they walked. Their chatter was soft and simple, enjoying each others company very much in this beautiful evening night.

"Do you have room for dessert?" Jaune asked after a brief lull in their conversation.

Pyrrha perked up slightly at the mention of dessert. Glancing at him, she slowly smirked. "I'm sure I could be persuaded. Why?"

Smirking in return, Jaune thought for a moment. "Well it's certainly nothing like the place we just ate at. But, working at a counter means you hear of and meet a lot of people. There's this legendary ice cream parlor that's still open."

Pyrrha looked at him a bit curiously, her sweet tooth suddenly very interested. "That certainly sounds worth the trip." She replied playfully. Honestly, she was just glad to have another reason to continue the wonderful night she was having. Taking a step away from him for a moment, she leaned forward, clasping her hands behind her back. "I'm buying though. I think it's time I treated the Arc family for at least a treat." She explained, before she offered her hand a bit nervously.

Jaune was just staring at her, in awe of how she looked as the lamps at night illuminated her form. The soft light danced over her red dress, her hair looking a little more natural after the long night as she smiled at him, filling his chest with warmth. His response was obvious as he reached forward, taking her hand as he began to walk to next to her, still holding hands as he lead her towards where he knew the ice cream shop was.

Their soft chatter continued as they spoke softly, both of them enjoying the night sky. Pyrrha had been stopped once again by a fan, but after signing their shirt, Pyrrha had raised Jaune's hand that she was still holding and excused herself to avoid drawing a crowd.

Before long they found themselves in the ice cream parlor. It was a smaller shop, similar to Jaune's own shop, a little tucked away cozy place.

They had welcomed Pyrrha when she entered the door Jaune had held open for her, but when Jaune walked in after the the red head, both dressed to the nines in fancy clothing, the owner's jaw dropped.

"Little Jaune?" She asked in a warm voice.

"Hey Garnet." Jaune replied a bit sheepishly.

Pyrrha cast a curious glance over her shoulder at him.

"Friend of my mom." He offered. Looking up at the owner he smiled. "Is the ice machine still working?"

"Like new!" She replied happily, patting a large machine. Turning to Pyrrha she walked out from behind the counter, offering her her hand. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Garnet, Jaune here fixed up my ice machine and that's how I met his mother. And you are?" She asked warmly.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Pleased to meet you." She offered politely. "Jaune spoke highly of this place so we were hoping for some desert."

Garnet placed her hand to her chest, smiling. "Well aren't you the most polite thing. Jaune, your girlfriend sure is cute! You are dressed up all nicely as well aren't ya? On a little date?" She asked as she moved back behind the counter.

Jaune just groaned, dropping his head into his hand. He had forgotten Garnet owned this particular shop, he hadn't been in here for quite a while.

Pyrrha was just snickering, amused by Jaune's reaction.

"We had gotten dinner, courtesy of his sisters." She explained, while looking childishly at the freezer with all the different flavors of ice cream.

After Jaune recovered, he was choosing next to her. Once they had both ordered and received their cones, and Pyrrha was at the register. "How much is it?" She asked, handing Jaune her cone while she fished her wallet out of her purse.

"Oh darlin' You don't need to pay! It's on me."

Pyrrha shook her head. "I insist. We were already treated to a fancy dinner, it's the least I can do."

Garnet smiled. "Well bless your heart. Aren't you sweet? All the more reason I insist it's on the house. Now listen here, Jaune over there is a good boy. Bit clumsy, and he can not always be all there, but he's got an honest heart. I hope you take good care of him, cause he'll take real good care of you sweetie. Now let the grown ups have their fun and spoil the kids, and just enjoy your date for me, mkay?" She said in a warm voice.

Pyrrha just nodded, unable to respond, fighting off a blush. "If you insist." She said, getting her cone back from Jaune who had missed the conversation as he struggled to start eating his cone while avoiding spilling it all over his suit.

Garnet just leaned on the counter, watching as Jaune and Pyrrha sat across from each other in the empty ice cream parlor, snickering as they joked and ate their cones. She recalled fond memories of her youth, going on similar dates with her husband when they had just met.

Some time had passed, and both Jaune and Pyrrha had managed to finish their cones with minimal damage to their outfits as the stood up.

"Now do be sure to come on by again, okay? And tell your mom I say hi Jauney! Make sure to walk your girlfriend home all proper like, alright? I know your momma raised you right."

"Right! I got it Garnet. Thank you." He mumbled, cursing the fact that everyone in his family and their friends still treated him as if he was a child.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'll tell my teammates about this, I'm sure you will be seeing them before long." Pyrrha offered with a smile and a wave, as she walked out of the parlor still snickering at Jaune.

Checking their scroll, they realized they had to get to the airship station soon, or it was going to be a nightmare getting back to beacon. As they hurried down the street, Jaune couldn't help but notice Pyrrha shivering.

"Are you okay?" He asked, a bit concerned.

Pyrrha smiled. "Lovely. It's just a little cold. I'm afraid my dress isn't very warm."

Jaune nodded understandingly. "It looks beautiful, but not very warm." He offered sympathetically.

Pyrrha blushed at the compliment. "We're almost at the airship. It's fi-" She was cut off as Jaune draped his jacket around her shoulders. Her eyes widened at the action. It was something she had always read about in her romance novels, but had never expected such a cliché action to happen to her in real life. But she had to admit it was nice.

"Are you sure?" She asked as she pulled it tighter around her shoulders, the smell of Jaune reaching her nose.

"Of course! Wouldn't want you to catch a cold." He said with a grin, before shivering after a moment.

Pyrrha just chuckled at his smile, as he pretended he wasn't cold. She moved closer to him, leaning against him. "I wouldn't want you to be cold either." She said with a smile. She stared at him expectantly for a moment.

Jaune looked at her, almost as if asking permission as he raised his arm. Seeing her playful smirk still on her face, he took a leap of faith and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him as they walked.

Pyrrha let out a hum of happiness as she snaked her arm around his wait, as they walked, sharing each other's warmth.

Before long they had gotten to the station in time to catch a fight. While they sat on the ship, Pyrrha kept his coat on, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder as they sat in silence. By this point, they were both a bit tired, having been dealing with nerves the entire day, then exhausted after spending the entire date together.

"Are you going to be okay getting home?" Pyrrha asked curiously, shifting her head to rest her chin on his shoulder to look at him.

Jaune blushed at her close proximity, earning a smirk from Pyrrha, as he nodded slightly. "I'm sure I'll be fine. It's not that long a walk to my home."

Pyrrha frowned slightly, before she quickly fished her scroll out of her purse, sending a quick message before depositing it. She ignored his questioning gaze as she rested her head again.

Almost too soon, the moment ended and they were walking back to the dorms, arms around each other.

"You didn't have to walk me all the way back you know." Pyrrha offered, not complaining in the slightest.

"I wanted to, it's polite after all. My mom would have killed me if I didn't." He countered with a small laugh.

Pyrrha just chuckled as well, before sighing as she saw the door to the dorms up ahead. It seemed the night was ending, and she certainly didn't want it to. Stopping just outside it, she handed Jaune back his jacket.

"Thank you for lending me it." Pyrrha offered with a warm smile.

"Anytime." Jaune countered, putting it back on. He fumbled with his tie a bit, trying to straighten it back out to the best of his ability.

"Let me help." Pyrrha offered as she reached up, taking it and gently straightening it.

Looking up, she found herself inches from his face, her eyes widening to match his.

Silently she asked for permission.

It was permission he quickly granted.

Pyrrha pulled down on his tie gently, and their lips met.

The kiss was brief, and gentle. Neither had directly kissed another before, so they certainly weren't very good at it. After a moment, they just stared at each other, their faces turning a strong shade of scarlet.

"I..." Jaune started out.

"Yeah..." Pyrrha continued.

"I uh... liked that." He mumbled a bit awkwardly, clearly having no idea what to do or say.

"So did I." Pyrrha said with a smirk, before she leaned up and kissed him again.

She felt him gently wrap her hand around her back, pulling her closer ever so gently.

They continued to awkwardly kiss for a minute, neither quite knowing what to do, but very eager to learn. After a moment they heard the sound of a camera going off.

Separating, they looked at each other, before they saw a dark figure scramble up the side of the building, disappearing into an open window.

They looked at each other, before they burst out laughing. They had a guess about what had just happened.

Regaining their breath, they just smiled at each other.

"I had a lovely night Jaune, thank you." Pyrrha offered.

"No, thank you! It was... very fun." Jaune stammered out, words failing him yet again.

Pyrrha blushed, but nodded. "Well, I'll see you later?" She asked a bit hopefully. Though, she knew they would have training before long as always.

"Yeah! Of course. Yeah. I'd like that." He continued on a little too long.

Just chuckling, Pyrrha leaned in and gave him another quick kiss before she opened the door to the dorms. "Good night Jaune."

"Good night Pyrrha." He said with a small wave, as he watched her close the door.

Turning around, he began to stumble away, still in shock as his hand gently touched his lips.

"Well done." Alice's voice said suddenly as she walked out from around the corner. She threw an arm over Jaune's shoulder, gently messing with his hair. "I'm proud of you kid. It looks like you two had a fun night." She teased light-heartedly, incredibly happy to see her brother having found someone.

Jaune looked up at her, surprised to see her. "Yeah. Thank you for setting it up. I'll never forget it."

Alice just smiled. "Aww, my brother's so cute when he's honest." In the end, seeing him like this made her feel like all the effort of pulling strings for his outfit and the dinner and making sure Pyrrha had time off was worth it.

"Why are you here?" He asked after a moment. "Not that I'm complaining."

Alice snickered. "I wasn't following you, don't worry. Pyrrha sent me a message, saying that you were gonna walk home alone. It's late out so mom sent me to fetch you." She explained.

Jaune just nodded, still running through the events of the night in his head.

He knew he could never forget it, even if he wanted to.

Up in the dorms, Pyrrha stood outside her dorm room nervously. She had finally managed to calm the raging blush on her face a bit. Sure she had been a bit confident when they first kissed, but once she had time to realize what she had done, her nerves were exploding. Trying to take a few deep breaths before she entered her dorm, she was denied that as the door flew open, to seven curious pairs of eyes.

"YOU KISSED HIM." Jane, Nora, and Yang said at the same time, as they pulled her into the room, wrapping her in a tight hug.

Ren sighed. "You cost me 20 Lien. I said not till the second date."

Pyrrha was just blushing wildly.

"How was it?" Yang asked, unashamed.

Pyrrha just stared her down. "I won't kiss and tell." She replied sternly, which just earned an excited squeal from Jane.

Yang just laughed. "It's okay, we got pictures anyway." She said, showing Pyrrha her scroll with a picture of them kissing on it.

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "How?"

"We have two ninjas in our group. Climbing down a building isn't that difficult, you know?" Yang continued.

Pyrrha glanced over at Ren and Blake.

Ren just shook his head, and Pyrrha had a feeling he wouldn't be up to that anyway.

Blake just hid a little more behind her book. "They bribed me with tuna." She confessed.

Pyrrha just sighed, her friends were a handful.

"So... how was it?" Jane asked eagerly, her eyes wide as she waited for details.

Once again, Pyrrha knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep without satiating the curiosity of her friends.

"Let me change first at least." She plead as she moved to the bathroom with her clothes. As she began to change into comfortable wear, replaying the night in her head, a smile was plastered on her face. Jaune had made her night, been her first kiss, and she knew one more thing. He was her first true love.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading, and I'm very very sorry about how long this took to come out. A few things have made my life a bit difficult recently. To hopefully generate some more income, I started doing art commissions on my tumblr ( dyde21 .tumblr .com -shameless plug, sorry-) but that won't interfere with my schedule, I promise. My days also got busy with portfolio work and family matters. Finally, this chapter was a bit of a nightmare for me to write. Being a bit of a stereotypical dude, I knew nothing about dresses, heels, or fine dining yet. Did some research, definitely will be useful in the future and it's interesting, but a lot of the subject matter in this chapter was far out of my depth so I hope it was okay! I also really don't have much experience with dating myself, so I also had to be careful with how I played it out. Over all, I hope it was enjoyable to read, and once again I'm sorry for how long it took.

The next chapter certainly wont take as long to come out, but I hope the length made up for it at least a little. I'm excited for the next chapter as well personally. Thank you all for your kind reviews, favorites, and follows! I really do want to get these up for you faster but trying to find income is a bit of a hassle for me at the moment. Regardless, I hope you can continue to enjoy the rest of this story as it starts to wrap up. I am still working on the piece of art for this story, I haven't abandoned that but that's a whole different headache.

Anyway, I'm rambling. If you're still reading this, thank you! You're wonderful and I hope you have a fan-freaking-tastic day! Cheers! o/


	14. The Illness

Very very sorry for the delay, another long chapter. I'll elaborate after the chapter.

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha woke up slowly that morning. Her sleep had been deep, and if she dreamed she certainly couldn't remember it. That was fine for her though, her dream had already come true. Memories of going out with Jaune played through her head, as a smile subconsciously grew on her face. She remembered waking up yesterday, afraid that the night out had just been a dream, but her new scroll background of them that Alice had taken was a constant reminder that it wasn't just a dream.

Stretching out in her bed a bit, she let her body relax again. It was still a little early for her, Jaune wasn't due to come visit for their morning work out for a little while.

She hadn't seen him since she had... kissed him goodbye. Butterflies were building up in her stomach at the thought of meeting him again. Pyrrha tried to convince herself that nothing was different. After all, they had already been training closely for months, which meant they had really gotten to know each other. Challenging each other with real weapons, and pushing your limits was a good way to bond with someone.

But still, her teenage mind couldn't ignore the fact that some _was_ different. She had _kissed_ him. On the lips. Something she knew neither of them had ever really experienced before. Even if she wanted to act like always, her confidence was a little shaken on if she actually could.

She was ripped from her internal monologue when her scroll lit up and suddenly started buzzing. Her eyes widened as she quickly grabbed it, her heart stopping for a moment. Jaune wasn't supposed to be here for an hour, was her clock wrong? She didn't want to keep him waiting. Right before she answered, she noticed the picture was different. It wasn't Jaune's smiling face that she had snapped a picture of one day while training, but rather it was Alice, grinning with a thumbs up.

Why would Alice be calling her of all things? Her stomach dropped as her mind began to race through all the possibilities, most of them not being good. At all.

"Hello?" Pyrrha asked frantically answering the call.

"Pyrrha! It's... It's Jaune! Please... help..." Alice's voice sounded frantic and desperate.

Pyrrha's heart stopped as she sat up suddenly. She tried to place her hand on the side of the bed, but she missed as she leaned too far, falling partly out of the bed as he scroll tumbled across the ground and she let out a small yelp of surprise. Reaching out a hand, still half in the bed and half on the ground, the scroll flew to her.

"Alice? What's wrong?" She asked frantically. "What happened?"

At this point Jane and Ren were sitting up in their beds, rubbing their eyes as they tried to figure out why their teammate had suddenly fallen out of her bed and was a freaking out so early in the morning. Usually she crept out to work out with Jaune before any of them were up. They slowly became more alert as they realized something must be wrong, save for Nora who was still just sleeping away blissfully.

"It's Jaune. Pyrrha he..." Her voice sounded desperate and Pyrrha felt a fist close around her heart. What could have her so panicked?

"He's got a cold."

Pyrrha froze. "What?" She asked, utterly surprised.

"He's got a cold."

Pyrrha slumped down on the ground, letting out a massive sigh, her heart-rate returning to safe levels again.

"Alice... that wasn't fun."

On the other end of the call Alice was now cracking up. "Sorry! Sorry! You just sounded so worried when I called you. You get so cute when you're worried about your precious little boyfriend."

Pyrrha just continued to lay half on the ground, half on the bed for a moment, trying relax. She waved off Ren and Jane, who seemed to understand that whatever it was was dealt with, before they rolled over and went back to sleep.

"So why did you call me so early in the morning? A simple message would have sufficed to say practice was canceled." Pyrrha was a bit surprised by the disappointment in her own voice when she mentioned calling off their training session. She really was looking forward to it more than she knew.

For once, Alice actually sounded a bit worried. "Yeah, here's the thing. Jaune normally doesn't get sick. You think he would, with all his clumsiness, but he's normally fit as a fiddle. Always has been. But when he does get sick... it's not good. It hits him hard. He'll bounce back but..." She trailed off, concern dripping from her voice.

"I see." Pyrrha offered, feeling her own level of concern quickly rising.

"It's a bad time for us. Mom and Dad have to run the shop today to manage the orders. The rest of our sisters are either away at school, busy with work, or helping out Mom and Dad. I have to leave for a mission, otherwise I would stay. I really _really_ want to, but this is important. Can you come over and check in on him? Please?" Alice asked, surprisingly sincere in her tone.

Pyrrha smiled softly. "Of course. I planned on stopping by once I heard he was sick anyway."

Alice let out an audible sigh of relief. "Leave it to his girlfriend." She mumbled to herself. "Heads up, he can be a bit... defiant when sick." Alice offered meekly.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, but figured she'd find out soon enough.

"I'll send you the address of our home. I don't think you've been over there yet. I'll leave a spare key under the pot outside the door. Please, help yourself to anything you find there. I'll let my mom know you're coming over and I'm sure she'll leave you some goodies." Alice explained.

Pyrrha smiled. "There's no need. I'm glad I can help."

A soft sigh was heard from the other side of the call. "Jaune got lucky with his girlfriend. Didn't you Jaune?"

A weak groan was heard faintly in the distance.

Another concerned sigh escaped Alice. "He agrees. Well, there's no rush, but do try to make it over when you can."

Frowning at the groan, she realized Jaune did not sound good.

"Gotcha. Don't worry about it Alice. I'll head over soon. Just focus on your mission, you can't get hurt either."

Alice just laughed. "Now I got kids worrying about me. Got it. I'll head out now. Thanks again, honestly." She offered before she ended the call.

Getting up finally, Pyrrha stretched her back. Her morning grogginess was certainly dealt with by this point. What an interesting wake up call, so to speak.

Looking over, she noticed Jane was looking at her again with a tired, yet curious look.

"Jaune's sick. I'm going to head over to take care of him, let Ren and Nora know?"

Jane nodded. "Tell him we wish him well." She mumbled out in a tired drawl before she rolled over, passing out again.

Smiling, Pyrrha quickly gathered her stuff for a morning shower before getting ready for the day.

XxXxXxXxX

Before long, Pyrrha was walking tentatively down the streets of the residential district of Vale. She hadn't found herself down these streets too many times before. Most of the people she knew lived at Beacon, so she hadn't exactly had any reason to venture over here.

Comparing the map on her scroll to the street signs, she found she seemed to at least be getting closer to the zone where he lived.

After checking the time, she began to hurry her pace. Logically, she knew that he was fine. He was just fighting a common bug according to Alice, and just needed some rest. But the idea of him being home alone, stuck in bed and sick made her nerves act up.

Her pace only quickened as her frustration about being unable to find the house began to get to her. Normally gifted with the patience of a saint, her friends being trouble often made quick work of it. However before long she found a house matching the description Alice had sent her, and the address matched up. Letting out a sigh of relief, she quickly made her way to the house, hoisting her backpack tighter over her shoulder. She had decided to bring some supplies, figuring that she would likely be at the house for the most of the day. Ren had even overheard the explanation, and prepared some stuff for Jaune as well with Jane's help.

She knocked once, hoping that if Jaune was up he would hear that she was there so he wouldn't be surprised. It took her a moment to find the right plant as she reached underneath it, pulling out the spare key.

Unlocking the door, she stepped in a bit nervously. Noticing a few pairs of shoes near the door, she quickly slipped out of hers, placing them neatly to the side as she finally entered.

Pyrrha honestly wasn't sure what to expect when it came to his house. The store was a nice, warm, rural looking metal-shop. The outside blended in the rest of Vale, but the inside definitely felt more remote and cozy, less urban so to speak.

Their house followed the same suit. While the outside looked like every other house in the district, the inside definitely felt more lived in. Tons of pictures littered the walls, all of the Arc children at different ages. Inside the main room just to the side of the entrance was a massive fire place, a rather large TV, and quite a large number of seats in there. A couch and a couple of chairs. Pyrrha guessed they certainly tried to have a spot for every Arc child if they happened to be visiting. Various metal pieces of art decorated the room occasionally, while there was a shelf dedicated to awards the children had gotten for various accomplishments, some combat some not.

Perhaps most surprisingly, was how clean the house was. While Pyrrha knew that all the children didn't live there, a large family usually meant that a house looked "loved" and a little worn down, but this house was kept very clean. She couldn't know if they had cleaned it up for her, but based off her interactions with Mrs. Arc she had a feeling the mom ran a very tight ship and the kids were used to picking up after themselves.

Shaking her head, trying to free herself from the curiosity of seeing Jaune's home for the first time, she pulled her bag off her shoulder, placing in on a chair as she tentatively took a few steps.

"Jaune?" She called out, in an awkward loud whisper. She wanted him to know she was there, but she didn't want to wake him up if he was sleeping and she couldn't decide how loud to speak.

Suddenly there was a loud thump, and the sounds of something scraping against the wall.

Jumping slightly, Pyrrha quickly made her way through the two storied house, trying to locate the source of the noise. "Jaune?" She repeated, her pulse racing.

"...yra..."

Pyrrha had almost missed the soft groan as she froze, turning her head and looking down a hallway.

"Jaune!" She shrieked out in panic.

The blond was laying face down in the hallway, his arm outstretched. A couple photos were scattered about the ground.

"Jaune!" She repeated, running to him and crouching down nervously as she touched his forehead. Her stomach dropped at the little groan he let out. He was burning up with a fever, but seemed to be fine overall. She gently helped him to his feet, throwing one of his arms over her shoulder as she began to lead him back towards the open door, assuming it was his room.

His head slumped as he struggled to walk with her.

"What were you thinking?" She asked worriedly, trying to keep annoyance out of her voice as her worries bubbled up.

"I heard you enter, I was trying to greet you..." He answered in a hoarse voice.

A soft groan escaped Pyrrha, who would have face-palmed if she could have without jostling Jaune.

"You're sick Jaune. You should stay in bed." She scolded lightly.

"But it's rude..." He mumbled out, his eyes drooping.

"So is making me worry." Pyrrha replied, exasperated. She pulled back the sheets on his bed, helping him in it as she quickly pulled the sheets up.

"Sorry." He mumbled, forcing his eyes open as he tried to look at her, pouting slightly. It was clear just how honest he was about the apology.

Looking like a sick puppy, Pyrrha felt her heart break. Mumbling under her breath about it wasn't fair how cute he looked when sick, she knew there was no possible way she could be mad at him. That, and the fact he was sick was keeping her in a constant state of concern and worry.

She rested a hand on his forehead, getting a general feel of his temp.

Jaune sighed softly, liking the cool feeling of her hand.

"You're burning up. I'm getting you medicine, water, and a cool cloth. Don't move." She ordered softly, rolling up the sleeves in her hoodie.

Knowing that she was likely going to be sitting around most of the day, caring for Jaune she had decided to dress for comfort. She was in a pair of sweatpants, with a black tank top and a hoodie. Normally she preferred to be a little more composed when away from her room, but she hoped that if Jaune saw her relaxing in normal clothes, he might be a little more at ease as well. She knew he would feel guilty about being cared for, so the more she could downplay it, the better.

Jaune just groaned in response as Pyrrha left the room.

Now facing a new problem, Pyrrha stopped in the hallway. She had no idea where anything in his house was. But, he couldn't exactly give her a tour at the moment. She also didn't want to snoop around their house and invade their privacy just looking for a bathroom. To start at least, she picked up the pictures off the floor she figured Jaune had knocked off when trying to stumble his way towards her.

Letting out a mildly frustrated sigh, she figured she should at least start with what she knew. She had seen the kitchen looking for Jaune. That would be good for water, and hopefully a cool cloth. She had brought medicine that Ren had provided, so that part would be covered.

Opening a few cabinets, she managed to find the glasses so she got some cold water from the sink. Fishing around her bag for a moment, she managed to find the medicine Ren had given her. Staring at the kitchen, she tried to guess where a cloth could be.

There was one hanging on the door to the oven, but she wasn't going to use a dirty rag to comfort Jaune. Taking a guess, she moved over to the dishwasher and opened a few doors. She mumbled an apology to the house for accidentally "snooping" but after a few tries she had managed to find a drawer full of clean rags.

Feeling successful, she quickly ran it under the tap and soaking it in as cold of water as she could manage. Once it was sufficiently soaked, she wrung it out, getting rid of most of the water. Now, taking the glass, rag, and medicine she quickly made her way back to Jaune's room. Much to her annoyance, she saw Jaune sitting up in the bed again, one leg thrown over the side as if he was trying to maneuver himself to stand up again.

"Jaune!" She said, her tone slipping into a slightly maternal one, not so much anger but disappointment lacing her tone.

Jaune flinched, shrinking back slightly. "It's not fair to just sit around..."

Pyrrha set down the glass of water on the table near Jaune, along with the medicine with a sigh. She ran a hand through her hair anxiously. Alice was right, Jaune certainly seemed to be much more defiant when sick. She had a feeling that the day might be longer than she thought at this rate.

Turning back, she saw Jaune now had both feet on the ground.

"Jaune!" She repeated.

Jaune just smiled at her weakly. "I feel fine."

It was hardly a convincing lie. She could see how his eyes drooped, his he looked flush and his arms shook slightly with the effort of keeping himself up.

Pyrrha knew she had to nip this in the bud quickly, for both of their sakes.

Moving over, she knelt down in front of Jaune, staring at him gently but sternly at eye level.

"Jaune. You're sick, and seeing you sick makes me sad. Seeing you push yourself when you need rest only makes me worry, okay? You just need to rest, and let me take care of you. I want you to be back on your feet soon, but that won't happen unless you properly rest." She explained gently, not breaking eye contact.

Jaune stared at her through tired eyes, nodding weakly. "I understand. The Vytal festival is coming up, I don't want to distract you or worry you. You should be preparing with your team, not babysitting me."

Pyrrha just let out a soft sigh. Leave it to Jaune to be worried about her when he can barely get out of bed. For all his clumsiness, he had an honest heart.

Reaching up slowly she messed with his hair a bit. "You're very kind for worrying about me, but relax. My team is ready for the festival. We just need to make sure we get some rest, and that we're on the top of our game for when it starts. A day to relax is perfect for me, and I will be able to get some studying done as well." She explained with a soft smile. "But all that doesn't matter. What matters is your health Jaune. The only thing I care about right now is seeing you healthy again. The rest can wait."

Jaune just stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh, and smiling. "I understand. I'm sorry."

Pyrrha just stood up, beaming. It seemed Jaune finally got the message. Leaning forward, she kissed his forehead. "There's nothing to apologize for. Now take this medicine and get some sleep." She said, holding out the glass of water and the pill.

Jaune stared at it for a moment, clearly not enthused about the idea of taking medicine, but after her little speech he wasn't going to be defiant to her again. Popping the pill in his mouth and taking a swig of water, he quickly swallowed it before looking at her with a small smirk. "Happy now?" He croaked out in a weak voice.

Unable to hold back her laughter Pyrrha just pat his head again. "Very. Now get some more sleep, you look like you're about to pass out."

Jaune just nodded, slowly laying back down in the bed.

Pulling up his sheets, Pyrrha grabbed the cloth that was still cold. Reaching over, she brushes his hair away from his forehead before she laid cloth over it. Smiling slightly at the appreciative sigh that escaped his lips as she saw him visibly relax. She stood up to leave, pausing at the door.

"I'll be in the front room. Call if you need anything. When you wake up I'll make you lunch." She offered.

"Thanks, Pyrrha. My mom left pie for you on the counter. Feel free to use anything here." He offered, his voice slurring slightly as he struggled to stay awake. A moment later, he was out cold.

Pyrrha flicked off the light, closing the door but leaving it open just a crack.

Taking a deep breath, Pyrrha let a long sigh of relief. Jaune was just sleeping now, she had seen for herself that he'd be fine. Now she could relax.

Moving to the front room, she paused near the kitchen. The smell of the pie that she had ignored for Jaune's sake earlier, was calling to her. As she walked over to it, she saw a note leaning against it.

"Thank you taking care of our boy.

Please, help yourself to this pie or anything you find in the kitchen! We'll be back tonight.

-Momma Arc"

Pyrrha smiled softly at the note, before noticing the plate, fork, and knife sitting off to the side of the pie. She had eaten a brief healthy breakfast before she headed over, so she could afford to spoil herself. At least, that was how she reason it. If there was one downside to being so close to Jaune, it was that his cooking and a family was a bit of a nightmare for anyone watching what they were eating.

Taking herself a small slice, she moved over to the front room after grabbing a napkin. Setting down the plate, she pulled her bag to the couch and began to pull out her textbooks. She would want to be with Jaune when he woke up, so if she was going to be productive at all today, her chance would be while he was sleeping.

So she set to work, reviewing for the last major test they would have before the Vytal festival start in just over a week.

She had only managed to open her books when she was surprised by the sound of a bark. It was faint, sounding distant. She ignored it at first, but a second bark made her pause. Standing up, she turned and began to follow the noise. Now that she thought about it, she remembered Jaune talking about their family owning a dog. They had to leave it at home, due to the shop being an inconvenient place to keep a pet due to it's location, so Pyrrha had never seen it on any of her visits. Only hearing stories of it from Jaune and his family. In her worry for Jaune, it had completely escaped her mind.

Eventually finding her way to a back glass door, she saw a note taped to it. "Open if you don't mind dogs, otherwise he's fine out back today. He has food and water. Careful, he's affectionate."

Pyrrha smiled, seeing the dog staring at her through the door half in curiosity, half in aggression of a new intruder.

Crouching down, Pyrrha opened the door slightly. She was rather fond of most animals, and found Zwei to be adorable. This dog was more of a beast though. Large enough to be a huntsman's hunting hound.

Holding out her hand gently, she made sure to have her aura ready just in case. The dog could only fit it's snout through the opening of the door, as it sniffed her scent. After a moment, it licked her hand and Pyrrha opened up the door completely.

The large beast of the dog barreled in, knocking Pyrrha over as it began it's assault, licking her face as it's tail wagged happily.

"Stop! Stop!" She cried helplessly as she fell victim to his onslaught. Eventually she managed to push it away, holding it at an arms length as she read it's collar.

"Kaito, huh?" She read aloud, earning a soft "borf" from the dog.

Glancing down to make sure the dog wasn't bringing in mud from the yard, she closed the back door and went back to her books. Pausing to listen to see if Jaune had woken up during the incident, the silence told her he was still fast asleep.

Satisfied, she went back to her books and began reading while the dog laid at her feet, still sniffing curiously but obviously accepting her presence in the home.

A few hours later, she closed her book with a sigh. Her homework was done, and she could relax now. She could study later, but for now she could focus her attention on making sure Jaune recovered. She was about to go check on him when she suddenly heard a raspy voice.

"Pyr-rha?" Jaune's gruff voice suddenly said, before apologizing when he saw her jump.

In a flash she was standing up, her hands hovering near him as she struggled to figure out how she could help him. "Are you okay? How are you feeling. You shouldn't be up right now! Do you have a fever? What do you need?" She said, caught off guard completely by his sudden appearance.

Jaune smiled weakly. "I feel a little better. The world seems to be spinning less." He offered.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Pyrrha smiled. It seemed the medicine was working if his dizziness was going away. When she heard his stomach growl, she smiled even more. An appetite was good. Food was good. "Hungry?" She asked gently.

Nodding meekly, Jaune smiled. "A little."

Letting out a chirp of a laugh, Pyrrha just smiled and patted his head. "Please, sit down. I'll start making you some soup right away. Ren prepared some stuff this morning so it shouldn't take as long." She explained, grabbing the supplies from the kitchen she had stowed in there earlier, when she took a break from studying.

Jaune was about to say something when his eyes widened. Before Pyrrha could ask what was wrong, Jaune made a sprint towards one of the rooms. Judging by the sounds that soon followed, Jaune had found the bathroom and was currently hurling the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

Wincing, Pyrrha let out a sigh. That certainly wasn't pleasant, but sometimes throwing up was just what someone needed to feel better. Knowing better than to embarrass him by checking on him while he was throwing up, she just got another glass of water ready for him, waiting for him by the couch with a concerned frown. A few minutes later Jaune returned, looking a little paler.

"Here, sip this water. It should help a little."

Jaune just nodded before he took a sip, still seemingly out of it as he plopped down on the couch, Kaito jumping up and cuddling with him immediately.

Looking over her shoulder, Pyrrha couldn't help but snicker at seeing the massive beast huddling all over Jaune, it's muzzle resting on Jaune's shoulder. "It seems someone is worried."

"Kaito can be a little affectionate." Jaune offered, before breaking down into a fit of coughs.

Frowning with concern, Pyrrha paused her preparation in worry. Thinking for a moment, she went back to the fridge and came back with a small bowl. Inside were little skewers of various fruits. "Snack on these, Jane prepared them earlier as well. Said they always help her feel better when she's feeling sick."

Nodding, Jaune began to eat one of them. Eyes widened slightly, he was surprised by the taste. There seemed to be a coating of honey. "These are good." He praised, eating another one.

"Go slow, but I'll tell her you said that." Pyrrha offered, smirking as he found the secret of them. Pyrrha was surprised herself when she first had tried one earlier in the year when she had gotten sick. Of course getting them out of the house without Nora eating them was always a bit of a trick, but she had slept through the morning chaos which was helpful.

Satisfied that Jaune was sufficiently pampered for the moment, she went back to preparing the soup. Ren had given her perfectly clear instructions, and unsurprisingly Jaune's house was stocked as well as a professional kitchen which made her job easier. Soon, the preparation was down to waiting for things to heat up and cook.

Finishing washing up the knives, she looked over. Jaune was passed out on the couch, an arm lazily wrapped around his dog as they both slept peacefully. Unable to resist, she silently moved over and grabbed her scroll, quickly snapping a few pictures. Honestly, he was just too adorable to pass up the opportunity. Debating for a second, she quickly sent them to her friends and Alice, her scroll immediately exploding in responses ranging from Alice talking how adorable she is, to Yang talking about how he was perfect to prank right now. Ignoring the blond, Pyrrha put her scroll away and smile, taking one of the spare seats in the room. She pulled out a book, one Blake had recommended her recently and began to read it, glancing up every once in a while to check on Jaune. He never changed, continuing to just sleep peacefully with his dog. He really must have been exhausted, but probably felt bad staying in bed all day.

Letting out a content sigh, she was glad to at least see his sleep was calm. Whatever illness was plaguing him seemed unable to bother him in his sleep so she was glad he could find what little peace he could. She considered waking him up to check on him, see if he needed anything but she figured she'd wait till the soup was done. Speaking of the soup, a few minutes later her scroll timer chimed. She got up and put her book to the side as she began to serve two bowls, one for herself and one for Jaune.

Taking a hesitant sip, she really hoped it turned out okay otherwise she was going to have to call for take out. Luckily though, it seemed passable to her at least. She just hoped Jaune's taste had gone with his health so he wouldn't be able to taste it either way.

Walking over, she gently rested the back of her hand against his head. He was still a little hot, but for the most part it seemed his fever had broken.

"Jaune? How are you feeling? You should have some soup, you haven't eaten much today." She said gently, ever so slightly shaking his shoulder.

Jaune opened his eyes, yawning as he stretched out.

Kaito was jostled awake by his master waking up hopped off the couch, content to go curl up in the corner of the room.

Looking at Pyrrha in a dazed stare, it took Jaune's sick mind a few minutes to register what she had said, and a little more to register the fact that his stomach was growling and he actually was starving. Nodding, he stood up, dragging himself to the kitchen table.

"Thank you." He mumbled with a tired smile.

"My pleasure." Was all Pyrrha offered as she helped him scoot his chair in and patted his head, before grabbing her own bowl.

He seemed a little less pale, and seemed to be moving better. Hesitantly, with a little hope in her voice she asked Jaune how he felt. "Are you feeling okay?"

Taking another sip of the soup he smiled. "Yup! I'm feeling fine." He said before breaking down into a coughing fit. Smiling sheepishly he looked at her. "Maybe not perfect... but better! Thank you for the soup Pyrrha." He said, continuing to eat it happily.

Pyrrha just smiled, opening a sleeve of crackers and smashing some up into her soup. Offering a few to Jaune, she continued to eat while happily watched her friend shovel down the soup with his appetite returned.

Normally Pyrrha and Jaune tended to take forever to eat as they would both be distracted by conversing too much to properly eat, but she was content to be quiet for once.

Before long, Pyrrha was finishing up her bowl while Jaune was finishing up his second. It seemed his appetite was really back. Always a good sign for someone recovering.

Gathering up the bowls, she began to was them in the kitchen before Jaune could attempt to do it.

"Have a seat Jaune, I'll take care of it today." She said, raising an eyebrow at him to defy her.

Staring at her, it was clear he was debating whether or not he wanted to press the issue. With a sigh he gave up and moved over to the couch, turning on the TV. "Did you get to study?" He asked.

Smiling, Pyrrha dried her hands and moved over, sitting on the couch next to him. "Yes, I had plenty of time earlier. I am more than ready for now."

Jaune nodded, relieved to see that her day had been at least a little productive.

For a while, they just idly chatted while they watched whatever was on, falling into their well practiced routine of just enjoying each other's company. It was clear Jaune was still a little tired, so Pyrrha didn't mind taking up a little more slack of the conversation, avoiding awkward silence with some small talk here and there, but perfectly satisfied with letting the conversation lull when he seemed tired.

Eventually, after another awkward pause, Jaune spoke up.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?"

Pyrrha tilted her head. "That sounds wonderful, which one?"

Jaune shrugged. "Why don't you choose? They are below the TV." He said, pointing with a knowing smile.

Almost a bit too eagerly, Pyrrha ran over to the collection of movies, beginning to look through them curiously. She read the back of every case eagerly, trying to figure out what one to watch.

Watching with a smile, Jaune just leaned back and looked on with amusement. From the long conversations they had had in the past, Jaune had learned that Pyrrha really hadn't seen many movies.

Her strict upbringing involving hours of training, and tournaments and celebrations meant that she often missed out on the chance do experience more mundane things. Just like seeing the popular movies that came out.

Aware of that fact, Jaune had asked his sisters to pick up movies recently that Pyrrha might enjoy. He hadn't planned on getting sick and having this chance, but he figured it would be fun to give her a chance to see them in the future. Not that he had exactly told Pyrrha about his plan before now.

After a few minutes of eager deliberation, Pyrrha held up a movie like a child in a toy store.

"Perfect." He offered, happy to watch whatever she had picked. She had happened to pick an animated movie that had come out a few years prior, a real success. Not many knew it, but Pyrrha actually had a fondness for "cute" things, despite her calm graceful demeanor.

Putting the movie in, Pyrrha moved back to the couch, pausing before sitting down. "Snacks..." She muttered, trying to recall if she had any.

"Hall closet. Upper shelves. Choose any you want." He offered.

Pyrrha's eyes widened before she grinned. Moving over, she quickly opened the cabinets. Normally she would be a bit more reserved about eating snacks from someone else's house, but they had all been so insistent after all. Plus, Jaune would be sharing them with her, so she figured it was okay. Settling on some chocolates, her weakness, and a bag of popcorn. While she was popping the bag, Jaune set up the movie to the opening.

Setting down some fresh water for Jaune, Pyrrha got herself a glass of lemonade before she went and got the popcorn. Feeling sufficiently prepared, she grabbed a spare blanket off one of the chairs in case Jaune got cold, before she flipped off the lights. Sitting next to him Jaune happily, she eagerly looked at the screen.

By this point, Jaune seemed to be mostly recovered, and was just exhausted. This meant Pyrrha would be able to relax and watch the movie.

Looking over at Pyrrha, Jaune frowned slightly. "Are you sure it's okay to be so close? I'm still sick you know."

Pyrrha just smiled slightly, ruffling up his hair. "Your sickness seems to be passing. I'll take the chance." She said cheekily before she scooted over, resting her shoulders against his. She had a feeling she wouldn't get sick, and she honestly just wanted to be near him right now. Being in the same house all day and needing to keep her distance was getting to her a little. So she'd risk it.

Jaune flushed, before nodding. "Uh... sure! Yeah... sounds good." He stammered out, just happy to be around her as well.

Starting the movie, he took the bowl of popcorn Pyrrha had offered him. Even if she was willing to be this close, it was probably safer to have separate bowls for eating.

Shifting slightly to get comfy, she pulled off her hoodie and settled in next to Jaune. Soon, she was lost in the film, watching it in childish innocence.

Having seen it a few times before, Jaune was content letting his mind drift as they watched it, occasionally looking over to watch Pyrrha's face react to the events of the movie. She really was adorable, especially when she was able to let down her composure.

As the movie went on, Jaune felt his eyes growing heavier and heavier. It seemed difficult to stay awake, especially when the film wasn't new to him.

More and more, Pyrrha found Jaune leaning against her, not that she would complain. Eventually, he was out cold, sleeping soundly on her shoulder. Pyrrha glanced over, and let out a content sigh. Shifting slightly, careful to avoid waking him, she shifted him so he was laying down. Moving a pillow to her lap, soon Jaune was laying across the couch with his head in her lap. Turning her attention back to the movie, she continued to softly play with Jaune's hair as she watched the end of the film.

By the time the credits were rolling, Pyrrha was finding herself tired. Jaune was still fast asleep in her lap, and she didn't want to wake him up. The soft smile on his face seemed too serene to disrupt. Glancing outside, she could tell night was starting to fall. Her eyes drooping, she decided a small rest wouldn't hurt.

Leaning back, she shifted slightly and adjusted a pillow before closing her eyes. Before long, she was out as well.

Her sleep was rather short, but blissful. She awoke to the sound of the door opening, shifting slightly as she leaned over Jaune suddenly, unsure of what was going on. Seeing a familiar warm smile, Jaune's mother entered the door. She raised a finger, indicating Pyrrha to keep it down as she crept through the house, depositing her bags. Pyrrha felt the chains of sleep trying to pull her back under, and before long she was out cold again.

The next time she woke up, Jaune's mother was gently shaking her shoulder.

"Honey, it's getting late. You're more than welcome to spend the night here, but I don't think it would good for either of your backs to sleep on the couch, as cute as you two are."

Pyrrha yawned, shaking her head. "I should probably get back. I appreciate the offer."

Jaune's mom smiled softly. "I understand. The offer is always open though." Looking down at Jaune, who was still asleep she just let out a soft sigh. "He sure is lucky. I'll leave him to you." She said with a wink before leaving the room.

Pyrrha began playing with his hair. "Jaune, I gotta get up." She said in a gentle tone.

After a moment Jaune began to stir, blinking and waking up. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Pyrrha's warm and amused smile staring back at him. "I uh... guess I fell asleep, huh?"

Chuckling softly Pyrrha nodded, her hair cascading down around him. "A little while ago, yeah."

Jaune yawned, stretching slightly like a cat before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, flashing Pyrrha his usual goofy smile.

Pyrrha just laughed, reaching up and messing with his hair again. He still looked adorable when he was sleepy.

Standing up after a moment, Jaune began to stretch his back. Pyrrha mimicked him, popping her back. Jaune had a bit of a better position during their nap, and Pyrrha was feeling a bit sore. Nothing a good soak and a good night's sleep wouldn't fix.

Noticing Pyrrha's usual signs of discomfort Jaune frowned slightly. "Sorry, that couldn't have been too comfortable... you're a good pillow though... heh."

Pyrrha just smiled, shaking her head. "No worries Jaune, I'm glad you could get some more rest. I'll be fine. How are you feeling though?" She turned on the table on him.

Jaune smiled. "Better! Almost back to normal. I should be good to go by tomorrow." He said, pumping his fist.

Pyrrha just covered her mouth as she laughed, relieved to see him in such high spirits again.

Jaune's mother entered the room, holding up her keys. "I'll drive you home since it's so late. Say goodbye to each other than meet me out front." She said with a playful smirk, spinning her keys around her finger as she left.

Pyrrha began to gather her stuff up as Jaune cleaned up the room with a yawn. Moving to the doorway, all packed up she paused at the door. Turning to Jaune, she smiled nervously.

Jaune scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uhh... thanks again Pyrrha. I really appreciate it."

Pyrrha shook her head. "I told you Jaune, I'm just glad to see you feeling better. I'll count on you to take care of me if I start feeling sick." She said with a wink and a laugh.

Jaune nodded eagerly. "I promise!" He said dutifully.

Snickering Pyrrha just leaned up, and kissed him on his forehead. "An Arc never goes back on his word."

Blushing, Jaune reached up, gently cupping her chin as he leaned up and kissed her head in return. "I wish I could offer you something..." He said after a moment with a frown.

"Already took care of it Jaune." Jaune's mother called out from the car, holding out a cardboard box.

They both just turned and laughed. It seemed Pyrrha couldn't escape them without food, even if Jaune was out of commission.

"Well, I guess I should go now." Pyrrha mumbled a bit awkwardly, still not fond of saying goodbye to Jaune.

"Yeah... well. Take care. Thanks again Pyrrha, you really are the best." He said, flashing her a grin.

Pyrrha just looked at him for a moment, before she quickly leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips.

Jaune's eyes widened in shock. "Pyrrha, but I'm..."

Giggling, Pyrrha just shook her head. "I couldn't resist. I'll see you soon!" She said before turning and making her way over to his mom's car.

Pyrrha quickly got in the car, hiding her blush as she took the box the mom offered.

"You two are so cute. Thanks again Pyrrha, really. He's really lucky to have someone like you."

Pyrrha shook her head smiling. "I'm incredibly lucky to have met someone like him as well."

Jaune's mother just let out a content sigh as she began to drive Pyrrha back to the dorms. "Ah, youth."

Before long, Pyrrha was waving goodbye to Jaune's mom as she made her way back the rest of the way to her dorms.

When she finally approached her door, team RWBY's opened as 4 sets of curious eyes popped out.

"Is he okay?" Ruby asked.

Smiling, Pyrrha nodded. "He's feeling much better. Don't worry."

Team RWBY let out a collective group of relieved sighs, though some more obvious than others. After wishing her a good night, they disappeared back into their room.

Opening her door, the rest of team JNPR looked up.

"Is he okay?" Jane asked worriedly.

Pyrrha smiled. "He'll be fine."

Nodding, Ren smiled. "That's very good to hear. Now, we got one more week till the Vytal festival."

Pyrrha nodded, as she set her stuff down, gathering her pajamas. "I think we're ready for it. Our team will have a whole family spectating us according to Mrs. Arc so let's make sure we get the practice we need."

The rest of her team agreed as Pyrrha made her way over to get changed. She was really relieved to see that Jaune was feeling better, and though the way she had spent time with him wasn't exactly her ideal with him being sick, she felt refreshed and ready to tackle the next week.

The Vytal festival was coming up soon, and she would be ready to put on a show for Jaune and his family. For the first time in a while, she would be excited to enter a tournament. For so long it had become a sort of duty for her. Sure, she enjoyed competing, and was happy to make her fans proud but after a while it had come to feel like work. A duty she was completing as she trained to be a huntress. But now, as she thought about Jaune watching her, she felt a new sense of drive. She wanted to show him her best side. She also wanted to win with her team, knowing how hard they had all been working.

Returning to her room and slipping into her bed, Pyrrha let out a soft sigh.

One more week, to train and spar. She would make sure to give it her all. She would bring home a victory for her team, for herself, and for Jaune who she felt a desire to grow stronger for. She knew they would go far together, and the Vytal festival was just one step in her journey.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I'm very very very sorry for how long this chapter took to come out. Normally I can sit down and crank out a chapter in a few hours if I set aside time. I had this doc open since pretty much the day after my last chapter, but no matter how many times I sit down and began writing, this wouldn't flow naturally. In the end, I'm not too proud of how it turned out, and I really hope it turned out okay. I know it's probably not my best work and I hope you'll forgive me. I knew if I didn't get this chapter out I'd be stuck here and I want to move towards the end of the story. There's less than five chapters left of this, so things will be wrapping up soon! I will be working on a periodically updated series about pretty much all characters in both teams next, that will be a series of loosely related one shots, and I will be turning my one shot I posted recently "Busking" into my next long term project and will be turning that into another long arkos series. But, those are both on hold till I finish this up.

Thank you again for your patience, and I really hope this was okay. Hopefully, God willing, the next chapter wont take as long to come out, but I am entering a rather serious art contest so I may be a little more distracted. However, the next chapter should be out before long as I have the structure of it more planned than this one. Thanks again for reading and I hope you have a wonderful freaking day!


	15. The Practice

I'm very very very sorry about the delay between chapters. I will explain a little after the chapter. Also, if you have seen Captain America: Civil War you may recognize a scene I borrowed. . Also I mention Ren's Semblance so spoilers if you haven't seen Vol 4. Also, the OC's from my original story have been adapted to the RWBY universe and show up in this chapter, I hope they're okay. They won't show up in the remaining chapters, but they really fit in perfectly here in my opinion.

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha cupped her hands in front of her mouth as she cheered loudly.

"You can do it! Nora! Ren!"

Jaune leaned forward next to her. "Come on guys! You got this!"

Pyrrha was excited, but Jaune was practically falling out of his seat as he leaned forward, watching the fight intently.

Next to the pair, Jane let out a hoarse call, but it could barely reach Pyrrha's ears. Pyrrha looked over sadly. Jane had fallen rather ill at the beginning of the week. It was still the middle of the week, and the doctor had said that they expected she would be fully recovered by the festival, but that meant she was unable to participate in final round of 2v2 battles being hosted.

By extension, that meant Pyrrha also had to the sit the day out. She was confident in her teamwork, and knew that their team wouldn't have made some last minute jump in strength at the final practice. Nor was it Jane's fault for getting sick. But, when Jaune had texted her that morning that he was going to be dropping by with his sister to check out the final practice round, she really wished she would have been able to show off to him again. After all, she knew he liked watching fights, and while her big plan was to make him proud at the festival, today could have just been a little bonus to cheer up his spirits after being sick. Instead, he was a little convinced he had been the cause of Jane's sickness somehow.

But what happens, happens. So she'd settle for spending the day watching fights with him and trading commentary.

Down on the stage Nora and Ren were plenty excited for the match. Nora always loved a good match, but Jaune cheering her on really had her engines running. Ren was a little more calm, but if Jaune was counting on him to win he wasn't going to let his friend down.

Glancing over, he saw Nora going toe to toe with her half of the pair. Their opponents were visiting students from Vacuo and they were a bit of a handful.

Ren's foe was an average looking guy, but he was a slippery one. He seemed to have a knack for evading, almost none of Ren's hits could land cleanly. Ren was glad he had been the one matched up against him, out of their team he had the best chance of aside from Pyrrha, who likely would have had her hands full with her sword and shield combo. His bladed sub-machine guns provided him the perfect assistance for someone who seemed so keep moving so fluidly.

Nora on the other hand seemed to be having a blast with her partner. He was a bear fannus, and he certainly looked the part. The massive man towered over all the other students in the room. His strength seemed to be a match for Nora as well. Every time the man's massive club collided with Nora's hammer the ground would shake slightly from the impact. There were some seriously powerful hits going on. But Nora's foe didn't seem to be too strong.

"Nora! Mine then yours." Ren called out after a moment. They were at a stalemate, and if things kept up this way it wasn't clear who would win. They needed to use their teamwork. After all, no one here shared the past Ren and Nora did. They couldn't keep up with their teamwork.

"Gotcha Ren!" Nora said cheerfully as she hopped up, landing on the massive club of her foe as he swung. Riding the momentum, she flew off the other side, skidding to a stop behind Ren's foe.

Before the oaf could realize what had happened, Nora was dashing forward.

"Right, Ren!" She ordered as she swung her hammer as she ran, readying her strike.

Ren sighed as he continued his assault. His opponent was clever, clearly the brains of their duo. Knowing Nora was approaching, he prepared to dodge to the left to avoid her strike. What he hadn't expected was to feel Ren's powerful kick slam into his side, pushing him to the left.

Before he could recover his balance and dodge, Nora's hammer crashed into his side like a train, sending him flying across the room and off the raised platform they had made to simulate the tournament on a smaller scale.

"Nora, we went over this. If you're giving directions to me, and we're facing opposite ways the sides are flipped. My right is your left, and your right is my left." He explained. He knew his partner well enough to know she would slip up in the heat of battle. Luckily, he knew what she meant and that confusion had let them get the upper hand. Now all that was left was...

Ren's eyes widened as he leaned backwards, seeing the massive club pass inches above his nose, right where his head had been. The bear Fannus seemed enraged at the moment.

A moment later Nora's hammer appeared though and slammed into the man's chest, sliding him backwards.

"Tch." Nora let out an annoyed sigh, she had meant to send him flying with that hit. She was having fun playing with him before, but now it was getting boring. Plus, now Ren was in his line of fire and she wasn't about to let him get hurt.

It seemed the man wasn't too fond of his friend being sent flying though. His strikes were getting faster and stronger. Nora raised her hammer, but was still sent flying across the ground.

"Nora!" Ren called out in worry.

The large man stumbled towards her as he raised his club. Pressing a switch, the club glowed red suddenly. Ren recognized instantly it was similar to Weiss's rapier. Dust was infusing the weapon. With his strength, adding dust would be a disaster.

As he raised his club above his head Ren slammed his hand down on the ground. Nora faded to a dull gray suddenly.

The large bear fannus was about to strike down when he paused. He had completely lost track of the little girl that was before him just a moment ago. He turned to try and find her, when the sound of electricity crackling filled the arena.

A moment later Magnhild slammed into his side, Nora letting out a scream of effort. At first, it looked like nothing would happen but a heartbeat later the man's feet left the ground and he went flying, skidding off the platform as the buzzer rang out.

"Match over! Victory goes to Ren and Nora!" Glynda announced.

The crowd burst into cheers and applause, the home team being a little more favored in this group. Nora and Ren moved back to their teammates and friends.

Glynda waved her crop, the various pieces of the shattered floor flying back to their proper place and repairing themselves. "Now then, it's been a long day but it seems we finally finished our matches. It's a shame Jane was sick today, as they were not able to compete. Also my apologies to Tyler and Ashe who were also forced to abstain due to a lack of opponents.

Jane just looked down, fidgeting with the end of her shirt. She really didn't want to be the reason Pyrrha couldn't practice. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, though Pyrrha just smiled at her comfortingly. There wasn't anything to be done.

"Hold it." Alice's voice rang out, causing team JNPR to look up, and Jaune to flinch instinctively. That was never a good sound for him.

"Let Jaune and Pyrrha be partners. This is just practice, and they're as experienced as the other first years here in working together."

Glynda sighed. "While their sparring was fine last time, I could hardly condone an unofficial student pairing fighting in such a setting.

"Jaune can do it!" Jane croaked out. She was disappointed that she couldn't fight with Pyrrha, but she felt foolish for not realizing Jaune had been there too. She had been dragged to train with them some mornings when Pyrrha wanted Jaune to spar against a foe with her style, and she knew he had come far. Still perhaps not quite on the level of normal students, but Pyrrha's latent ability would be enough to cover up for his weaknesses.

Jaune just looked helpless, realizing his future was once again out of his control. "I don't want to drag Pyrrha down. What if she gets hurt?" He offered, glancing over at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was just as shocked as Jaune was. She hadn't considered the option, not because of Jaune's current level, it just hadn't crossed her mind. She had only thought of him as someone in the stands. Though, now that she thought about it she felt confident that they could certainly practice in a match together. They were as comfortable with each other in battle about as much as she was with her team from their sheer volume of practice. Before she could voice her thoughts, a new voice chimed in.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want my sister to hurt Alice's baby brother."

Alice's head snapped to the side as her eyes narrowed. "Oh don't tell me their opponents would be..."

Smirking, a tall brunette crossed the arena as she rested her hand casually on the katana strapped to her side. "Yup. My little sister and her partner."

"Ali." Alice said with an irritated sigh. Of course. They hadn't seen each other since they were students at the academy, aside from once on a mission. "What, only Tweedledee is here? Where's your twin, Tweedledum."

Team JNPR and RWBY, who had joined them, were standing in quiet awe. They hadn't seen Alice be so aggressive to someone like that before, Jaune being in danger aside. They glanced over to Jaune curiously.

Jaune currently was hiding behind Pyrrha a bit. "That's Ali. She was one of my sister's 'friends' in school. They fought. A lot." He offered, bad memories flashing through his mind.

"Someone who can match Alice?" Yang said with a appreciative whistle.

There was a crack, almost as if someone had snapped and another brunette appeared quite literally out of nowhere, flicking Alice on the head. "That's not very nice to call me Alice. It's been so long too!"

Alice let out a frustrated growl. Of course she had to be here too. "Speak of the devil..."

Realizing they had a bit of an audience, the newcomer smiled, offering a hand to Pyrrha who happened to be the closest. "Hi there! Nice to meet you. I'm Ami, Ali's sister. Twin, if you couldn't tell." She chirped happily.

Pyrrha shook her hand, tilting her head slightly. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Pyrrha. My team is Jane, Nora and Ren." She offered.

"Ruby!"

"Weiss Schnee."

"Blake."

"You guys look identical..." She flinched as she was hit in the side by Blake. "Yang."

Pyrrha smiled. "And I think you know J-" She was cut off as Ami once again vanished from where she was standing, appearing in front of Jaune and wrapping him in a big hug. She swung him in a circle, holding his head against her chest. "Jaune! It's been so long! You're so grown up." Ami said warmly before letting the poor boy go.

Jaune just smiled, a little dizzy from being spun around. "It's good to see you too, Ami." Jaune had met the twins a few times before, again from many visits regarding his sister's "trouble" in school. The pair were often the other half of the trouble, but Ami was far more pleasant to be around. In fact, it was usually her sister who ended up in the trouble so Jaune and Ami would often play together when he was young.

Pyrrha smiled, the teeniest bit jealous of seeing Ami cling onto Jaune suddenly.

"Don't worry about those two." Alice offered to the group. "Now why are you here? You had to come babysit your sister?" She asked.

Ali just returned her challenging glare. "We're proud of her so we came to watch. Why are you even here? Last I heard your brother doesn't attend here." She said, casting a slightly apologetic glance at Jaune. She hadn't meant it in a rude way, she didn't have anything against Alice's brother.

"We came to watch his girlfriend fight. But it seems both of us couldn't do what we wanted.

"She's not my..."

"He's not my..."

Both Jaune and Pyrrha cut themselves off. Were they boyfriend and girlfriend? They hadn't exactly... talked about it. After their night out and... kisses... they just kind of kept things as they were. Neither was exactly sure about what they "Were" at the moment.

Ami just squealed. "Awww they mimic each other. They are so cute." Ami said, letting out a happy sigh. Ah, young love.

"You really think your brother can keep up with my sister in a fight?" Ali challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Alice smirked. "Don't underestimate the men in the Arc family. Besides, he's been trained by _the_ Pyrrha Nikos."

Ali was caught off guard. She knew Pyrrha had seemed familiar. Perhaps the match would be a little fairer after all.

Ali and Alice stared each other down for a minute, before turning to Glynda in sync. "They're fighting." They announced.

Glynda's fist clenched around her crop. "Now listen here. Don't think you two can barge into my classroom and orchestrate fights with the students."

Alice cracked her knuckles as Ali drew her sword a few inches. "Perhaps we should spar for old times sake?"

"That could be fun." Alice said, a dangerous lilt in her tone.

Both teams stepped back in fear. The aura surrounding Alice and Ali had suddenly gotten menacing and dangerous. Alice was a handful enough when she was angry, but Ali seemed to make the situation worse. Surprisingly though, Jaune had been the one to step between them, raising his hands, though they shook a little.

"I don't want to get kicked out of here. Last time you guys fought they had to do renovations on the building."

Glynda threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine! We'll let the students fight. However, if anyone is harmed it will be on your heads."

Alice and Ali both threw up scouts salutes. "Scout's honor!"

"Neither of you were scouts..." Jaune mumbled quietly.

Glynda got the stage ready as Ali and Ami went back to talk to their side.

Alice threw an arm around Jaune's shoulder. "Nice job on selling the threat. I wasn't sure Glynda was going to let us do it."

Jaune just shook his head. "I thought you two were being serious. I didn't want you guys breaking the place."

Alice just laughed. "Go get ready. You can't lose to that brat's little sister!"

Jaune was surprised when Alice handed him her backpack with a wink, finding his armor and weapon and shield in it. "When did you..."

"Always be prepared." She offered ushering him off towards the changing room.

Jaune paused, looking to Pyrrha. "Are you sure you're okay with this? Jane?"

Jane just smiled, before sneezing. "Thanks for letting Pyrrha get some practice. Just don't get hurt, okay?" She said with a sniffle.

Pyrrha smiled warmly. "I have absolute faith in you. We'll just do our best. What happens, happens. Besides, it seems you have a bit of a legacy to keep going."

Jaune sighed, scratching his head before looking up and smiling. "Then let's do this!" She said before following Ren to the lockers to borrow his locker.

Pyrrha just chuckled before heading over to hers to get ready. She hadn't be expecting a fight, but fighting along side Jaune was something she hadn't realized how much she wanted to do it.

XxXxXxXxX

Jaune and Pyrrha stood on the platform.

"Remember your defense Jaune. Play it safe, and we'll work together. Leave the offense to me, I'll be counting on you to watch my back." She offered, hoping to calm the obvious nerves that were building up in him.

Jaune nodded, making sure his armor was all on tightly. He had a feeling that he would need it very badly soon enough.

"So you should know our opponents right? Ali and Ami have another sister?" Pyrrha asked, stepping closer. She was both determined to win this fight with Jaune, and make sure he wasn't injured in it. Knowing as much as she could about her opponent would help even the playing field, as she figured once Ali recognized her she told her sister, and Jaune still hadn't discovered his semblance.

"Kinda. They aren't related by blood, they adopted her when they were young. They're all orphans, you see. But they're as close as me and my sisters. Her name is..."

"Ashe! Nice to meet cha!" A voice suddenly chimed out from across the arena. A raven haired girl a little shorter than Pyrrha stood across from them sporting a pixie cut, and a shirt that read "hot stuff" on it, underneath a fashionable jacket.. A long metal box hung at her hip, and a strange tube on the other hip. From behind, a long cat tail swished playfully from side to side.

Pyrrha smiled politely. "I'm..."

"Pyrrha Nikos. I know. He wouldn't shut up about you for a while." She said, a hint of jealous creeping into her voice as her smile faltered.

Next to her a male, slightly taller than her sporting black shaggy hair walked up smiling nervously. "I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to." His snow fox ears on the top of his head drooped slightly.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she recognized him. She had been the student she fought in the beginning of the year. He had been the one to freeze her weapons, and send her to Jaune's shop.

"Hey Tyler." Jaune offered with a wave. They had met through his sister eventually, and he had done some work on his weapon and armor.

Ashe just giggled, throwing an arm around his shoulder and kissing his cheek. "I know. I just can't help it, I get a little jealous when my _boyfriend_ is fawning over another girl." She said, shooting a meaningful glance at Pyrrha who's eyes widened.

Tyler blushed red. "I wasn't fawning... it was just a good fight. It was good motivation." He mumbled, embarrassed about being called out like that.

"So your partner isn't enough motivation for you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tyler's eyes widened. "That's not what I meant! You know I'd do anything for you." He confessed, before realizing what he said and blushing a deep red. He let out a groan of annoyance.

Ashe just snickered. "I know, I know. You're just cute when you're embarrassed." She said, leaning over to give his cheek a peck in apology before grabbing the sword at his waist and handing it to him. "Sorry for teasing you. I'll make it up to you later." She offered before grabbing the long box at her hip.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other, before blushing and looking away. They may be in some sort of relationship, but they certainly weren't as open as Ashe and Tyler seemed to be about it.

Ashe raised an eyebrow but Tyler leaned over, whispering something in her ear.

"Oh I see! You two are a thing! But shy. Got it. How cute." Ashe squealed slightly. "Nothing to be embarrassed about it."

"You're one to talk! It took you guys _forever_ to admit you liked each other, longer still to be comfortable. It took us all to bring you together." Ami lamented from the side.

Pyrrha chuckled as she saw Ashe's face burn red in embarrassment. She was about to make a comment when her eyes widened. In a blur of movement, the long metal box in her hand had unfolded, growing into a powerful metal recurve bow. Meanwhile, her other hand had opened up the tube, and pulled out a small tube. A press of a button and it had extended into an arrow, was nocked, and fired at Ami before Pyrrha had realized she was holding her breath.

The arrow whizzed through the air with shocking speed, straight towards Ami. Before Pyrrha would even react to the sudden attack, Ami's hand shot up and caught the arrow with a frown.

"Rude." There was a crack and Ami was standing next to Ashe, handing her the arrow back. "Don't waste your ammo before a fight." She scolded, flicking Ashe on the forehead.

Sighing, she ruffled Ashe's hair. "Good luck to both teams!" She said, calling over her shoulder. She turned back to Tyler and Ashe for a moment. "Jaune's not a proper student, so don't go overboard. This is just training and we don't want any accidents. I'll be watching, but I trust you guys to be smart out there." Looking over her shoulder at him, she smiled warmly before turning back to her sister and her partner. "But don't underestimate him either. That Arc family is scary, plus he's had a great teacher. So be on your guard." She offered, before patting each of them on the shoulder and vanishing with a crack, appearing next to Ali who just handed her back her bowl of popcorn.

"Without further ado, let's start this final round. Jaune, and Pyrrha from team JNPR versus Tyler and Ashe from team BATT." Glynda announced. "When someone's aura hits the red, they are out and you are not to attack them as they exit the field. If you fall out of bounds you are eliminated. Fight fair, and begin!" She announced.

She was about to wave her crop when Ashe's hand shot up.

"Wait! I almost forgot."

With a sly smirk at Tyler, she suddenly handed Tyler her bow to hold before she took off her jacket. This left her in just a tank top. She wasn't done though. Reaching down, she quickly undid her belt before tossing it on her jacket. Reaching down she began to undo her boots as well.

There was a wolf whistle from the audience, but a sudden glare from Ali sent a shiver down the audience. Suddenly no one wanted to make any jokes.

Jaune was looking away, feeling a little uncomfortable about his opponent stripping in front of him.

Pyrrha was confused and slightly embarrassed as well.

Tyler was just unabashedly staring at his girlfriend, transfixed by her gaze as she smirked at him, one hand on her hip as her shoes joined her belt and jacket.

"Take off your belt." She said with a wink. "Or do you need help?"

Jaune covered his flushed face, Pyrrha gasped in shock.

There was a crack and Ami was standing next to Ashe snickering. "You're having too much fun. Stop teasing Tyler, and it looks like Jaune and Pyrrha are about to pass out." She scolded, still snickering at her sister's antics. Ashe could be a flirt with Tyler, but Ami knew it was all talk. She liked to tease him, but both her and Tyler were taking things slow.

Ami handed Ashe a pair of sneakers as she gathered up her clothes, and took the belt a still blushing Tyler had offered her.

"Why the outfit change?" Pyrrha had asked, thoroughly confused and embarrassed by the actions. Judging by Glynda's expression, she was also looking for a proper explanation for the unneeded delay.

"We're up against Pyrrha Nikos. I'm not sure that wearing metal is our best bet. I just forgot to remove it before hand." She explained honestly. Looking over at Tyler, she saw he had recovered his composure, though he still seemed a bit tired of feeling flustered. She mouthed an honest "I'm sorry." to him. Maybe she had taken it too far, but her sister had a bit of a bad influence on her.

The second Glynda's crop was lowered an arrow whizzed through the air, bouncing harmlessly off Pyrrha's shield. It seemed this was going to be a fast paced fight. She was about to step forward, when Jaune suddenly shoved her backwards, bringing his shield up. A moment later the arrow she had forgotten exploded into a small ball of flames. Pyrrha hid slightly behind Jaune, bracing him against the explosion. A second later she was at his side again, her shield raised. "What was that!?"

Jaune smiled apologetically. "I didn't get to explain earlier. Ashe's semblance is fire. She can set herself or anything she touches on fire and manipulate the flames of it to an extent. There's some limitations but she's dangerous! Her arrows aren't normal arrows." Jaune offered.

Pyrrha was a bit intimidated, she had to admit. She wasn't expecting that. Combined with Tyler's ability to sap the heat from what he touches and freeze things solid, they were a dangerous pair.

"I really wish I knew my semblance right about now." Jaune offered with a nervous laugh in his voice.

Pyrrha smirked. "We won't need it."

Jaune tightened his grip on his sword. "I hope you're right. You focus on Ashe, I can't keep up with her range. I'll try to take Tyler." He offered.

Pyrrha nodded. His plan was simple, but solid. That was one many aspects of potential she saw in Jaune. While fighting technique may not come naturally to him as it did to her, his battle instinct was rather sharp. He learned from his mistakes quickly and could find a strategy to face a new threat. This had kept Pyrrha on her toes while training, forcing her to keep changing to avoid him adapting to her, though her experience and talent kept her with the upper-hand. For once though, she was glad it was on her side. They may need it in this battle if they wanted to win.

Pyrrha switched to her rifle and fired shots off at Ashe, separating her from Tyler as Jaune closed the distance to him. Ashe was quick with her bow, and the arrows were a live threat until they exploded, meaning Pyrrha had to stay on her guard. The arrows were metal, but she couldn't properly manipulate them with the speed they were being fired, so she'd have to face them without her semblance.

Deflecting arrows and guarding against their explosions would only last so long, so Pyrrha rushed forward. She was relying on her agility to close the gap, as she narrowly dodged arrow after arrow, continuing to move so they couldn't catch her in their explosion.

At last she had managed to close the gap, when she saw her chance. Bashing up with her shield, she deflected Ashe's bow upwards, spinning the girl around. She struck out with her sword, but was surprised to find it collide against a staff.

Ashe smirked, as her bow finished transforming into a long bo-staff. She swung her staff around, slamming Pyrrha in the side of the head with it and forced Pyrrha to back up.

Pyrrha winced, having been caught off guard by the transformation. It seems the fight wouldn't be easy close up either. Glancing over, she saw Jaune was struggling against his own opponent.

Jaune and Tyler circled around each other. Both guys were sporting a sword and shield, though Tyler's was a bit different. His sword was froze solid, extending it's reach and size, and his shield was a small metal buckler that was also frozen, expanding it's range.

Jaune knew he had to be careful. If he touched Tyler's ice for too long, it could begin to freeze him too. That was what had done the damage to Pyrrha's weapons. Luckily his sword had no moving parts, and his shield was only useful extended at the moment so he wasn't too concerned about that.

Letting out a yell, he dashed forward.

"Come!" Tyler said with a grin. Jaune was a pretty good friend to him, so he was excited to fight with him. But that didn't mean he was going to take it easy on him. This was supposed to be practice after all.

Tyler met Jaune's blow with his own, and soon they were trading slashes. Tyler was more experienced than Jaune was, so he was dictating the flow of the battle. Still, he had to admit he was impressed with Jaune's growth. He certainly wasn't someone he could brush off. Still, Tyler wouldn't lose.

Ducking one of Jaune's swing, Tyler swiped his frozen sword at Jaune's feet.

Jaune was caught off by the strange action, but when he tried to rush forward, he stumbled and fell forward.

His right foot had been frozen solid on the ground. He barely had time to bring his shield up as Tyler's swipe slammed into it.

Jaune flew backwards, slamming into the ground as his frozen foot kept him rooted in place and had caused him to arc and land on his back.

"Pyrrha!" He called out, knowing he needed help if he was going to avoid being eliminated right then and there. "Pass!" He called out.

Pyrrha hopped backwards, dodging another arrow as she knew what he was saying. It had only taken a moment for her to notice his foot and realize his strategy.

Firing off a few rounds with her spear, she forced Ashe to back up before she switched to a spear and launched it at her, knocking the hot head back.

Turning with a powerful spin, she launched her shield like a discus, as it soared across the arena. It slammed into the ice around Jaune's foot, shattering it before ricocheting into Tyler.

Jaune caught it, and threw it back towards her to the best of his ability. Luckily her semblance let her correct his slightly off course throw. She focused on her spear, sending it back towards her but it was going to be too slow.

Ashe was back on her feet and aiming an arrow at Pyrrha's defenseless form. As she was about to fire her arrow, she failed to notice Jaune approaching. He had realized what situation Pyrrha would have ended up in after throwing both her shield and spear, so he had started running to intercept.

Jaune slammed into her side with his shield, knocking her over.

Running back to his partner, he took a guard next to her. "You okay?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Thanks for covering me."

Jaune smirked. "You saved me first. I would have been out."

"Then it's goo-"

"Ashe! Now!" Tyler's voice rang out.

Looking over, they saw Tyler kneeling on the ground, both palms planted on the ground. Between them was a large ice dust crystal. An icy mist was flowing out from his hands as you could see the aura around his hands pulsing.

Ashe stood up, smirking. Leave it to her partner. With a massive jump, she did a large back flip, landing perched on Tyler's back like a bird.

Bracing himself for the impact of Ashe on his back. At the moment she landed, he slammed his hands down on the ice crystal.

There was a massive cloud of dust that exploded out from them, obscuring the area in a mist.

Jaune and Pyrrha coughed, swiping away the dust around them. They tried to move to find a clean spot but found they both had their feet frozen to the ground. In fact, the entire ground had been frozen solid in an instant.

Immediately Jaune slammed his sword into Pyrrha's feet beginning to chip the ice away as Pyrrha fired a few rounds towards Jaune's. They had to be free soon.

"Stay together!" Jane called out from the stands.

"You can do it!" Ruby called out eagerly.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "That was a lot of ice."

Weiss nodded. "That was rather impressive, it seems his semblance is very powerful when combined with Ice Dust." Weiss explained. It was a bit similar to her semblance with dust, but his seemed to be on a different level, though she had a feeling he would be out of luck when it came to other types of dust.

"But it's not without cost." Blake noted, gesturing to the screen. Tyler's aura had dipped significantly when he used that move. "That takes a lot of trust in your teammate to use that. It leaves you vulnerable." She remarked.

Jaune and Pyrrha were free soon enough, but it was too slow. Ashe was already sprinting towards them, her feet blazing. She stepped with enough force, and combined the the fire surrounding her feet, the ice melted and cracked instantly underneath her steps, allowing her to roam free.

Jaune and Pyrrha tried to stay together, but their feet were slipping and sliding on the ice, it was impossible to get any sort of solid footing on the floor of ice.

"Pyrrha, block!" Jaune called out but Ashe was too quick.

A flying kick from the raven haired girl sent Pyrrha flying and sliding across the ice towards the edge of the arena.

Jaune turned to try and help her, but noticed Tyler and barely had time to throw up his guard.

Every time Tyler stepped, his foot would freeze slightly to the ice, keeping him solid in place, before he'd free himself when he needed to take another step.

Jaune managed to block the hit, but he was still sliding backwards.

Desperate to stop her momentum, Pyrrha jammed her sword in the ground, holding onto it for dear life.

She saw Ashe aiming at her with her bow again, and she knew she was in trouble. With a wave of her hand and a massive effort, she unleashed her semblance. At the last moment, Ashe's bow aimed downwards as her arrow exploded in front of her, sending her sliding backwards.

Pyrrha quickly scrambled towards the spot of melted ice from the explosion. Back on solid footing she saw Jaune struggling against Tyler.

"Jaune! Touchdown!" She called out, firing a few rounds at Tyler to force him to back off for a moment.

Jaune was hesitant, but knew the situation was desperate. Raising his sword with both hands, he slammed it down onto the ground with all the force he could muster.

While not nearly as impressive as he had seen Yatsuhashi do before, it did it's job. The ice in the area around him cracked and shattered from the sheer force of his aura-infused strike.

But that meant he was still trapped to this small circle.

Pyrrha wanted to help him out more, but she saw Ashe approaching. She knew if they continued to fight separately they might lose. The arena was no longer fair game, and both of them had great control of their semblances, something that had been missing from her fight with team CRDL.

Struggling to guard against Tyler's continued onslaught, Jaune was thinking the same thing. "Client 1! Finish this order then move on." Jaune called out.

Pyrrha understood his plan, thankful they knew each other well enough to understand the coded call outs with no real planning.

Spinning around, she hurled her shield again at Ashe who was readying an arrow. The shield and arrow collided mid air, exploding directly in front of Ashe. Ashe stumbled backwards, trying to regain her composure. She quickly knocked another arrow, but failed to notice Pyrrha's glowing shield slam into her from the side as Pyrrha manipulated it with her semblance. In a panic it had set off Ashe's arrow yet again, sending her flying even farther away, her bow sliding away from her.

Zooming towards it's owner, Pyrrha's shield flew towards her as she sprinted towards Tyler. This was their chance.

Jaune parried Tyler's strike, knocking his sword up. Tyler wasn't done though. His hand shot out and grabbed Jaune's that was holding his shield. With a release of his semblance, Jaune's hand began to freeze over.

Desperate, Jaune ripped his hand free, but that had meant he had to let go of his shield. His shield clattered across the arena, leaving him with just his sword.

Tyler was about to flash out with a strike when he felt Pyrrha's sword cut across his back. His aura had absorbed the blow, but it had hurt. He swung around with a strike towards Pyrrha, but she blocked it with her shield.

He brought his shield up to block Jaune's counter, throwing a kick towards Pyrrha. He swung back with momentum towards Jaune with his sword, but was surprised to see Jaune holding Pyrrha's shield as he blocked his attack before Pyrrha's kick connect to his side.

Soon Tyler was completely overwhelmed. Pyrrha and Jaune were flanking him, trading blows when he tried to focus on the other. Periodically they would pass Pyrrha's shield back and forth, blocking strikes as they whittled down his aura quickly.

Ashe screamed for him, but she couldn't get there fast enough. The two explosions had hurt her more than she was expecting and it took her too long to recover.

Desperate, he had caught Pyrrha's shield mid-air, but it was too late. Both Jaune and Pyrrha struck down with a blow as the buzzer rang out. Falling to his knees, he stared at the ground. Tyler's aura had dropped into the red.

Immediately Jaune and Pyrrha both stepped back, breathing heavily. Tyler was eliminated, and they wanted to make sure he could leave safely.

Tyler forced himself to his feet as he began to stumble towards the stairs off the platform. His shoulders drooped and his face was cast in shadow. He barely looked at Ashe as he passed her. The ears on his head drooped low in shame.

"Tyler... are you okay? I'm sorry." She stammered out. That's when she saw it.

Tyler had sniffled and offered her a heart-breaking smile. "I guess I wasn't good enough. Do your best."

He said as he staggered down the stairs. Ami had appeared with a crack, quickly throwing her arm around him and helping him. She could only imagine how he must be taking the defeat.

That's when the murmurs started.

"He lost to Jaune."

"Jaune isn't even a student."

"Pyrrha was busy with the girl most of the time."

"I guess the ice was just for show."

"How weak."

"He's just a Fannus after all."

"I hope I get matched against them in the festival."

Tyler's form seemed to droop even more. His girlfriend's fist clenched at her side as she saw her precious partner walk away so defeated.

Jaune and Pyrrha were both panting, feeling bad. Those watching didn't understand. Tyler had been a serious threat. That wasn't something to brush off. Jaune knew he couldn't have won on his own.

"Good fight!" Jane called out hoarsely, feeling awful for the boy walking away.

"Poor girl. She can do so much bette-" The murmur was cut off by an explosion.

The wall of the room now had a massive crater in it as Ali stood there, her fist still lodged in it. She was breathing heavily, as if restraining herself as she glared at the audience. "One. More. Word. I dare you." She sounded out, causing everyone to instantly shut up. Surprisingly, Alice moved over to Ali and put a hand on her shoulder, calming the girl ever so slightly.

Alice knew Tyler and Ashe trained as hard as Jaune and Pyrrha. While Tyler had more practical experience than Jaune, he had grown up mostly alone before he had met Ashe when they were younger. Ali had grown to care for the boy like a little brother, and Alice could sympathize with what she must be feeling.

Jaune and Pyrrha were suddenly aware of the temperature of the room spiking. It felt like they had entered a sauna.

"Please keep all comments respectful." Glynda ordered to the audience. "Now then, the match isn't over. Resume!"

Jaune and Pyrrha stood next to each other, looking at Ashe. Looking carefully, they saw she was practically shaking. Scratch that, she was visibly shaking in anger.

"Pyrrha. Be careful. When it comes to Tyler, Ashe ca-"

He was cut off as he saw her throw something in the air, before dashing forward, and explosion of fire propelling her at a fast speed.

They were caught off guard as she suddenly appeared between them, hand spread wide. Her usual playful smirk was gone, a deathly serious gaze in her eyes.

Practically in slow motion, Pyrrha and Jaune turned their heads as they saw what she had thrown up before falling between them. It was a large dust crystal. Fire dust.

They both barely had time to raise their shields before she slammed it between her two fists.

The three students were suddenly surrounded in a massive ball of flame, Pyrrha and Jaune rocketing out of it away from each other. Both of them had been scorched in the explosion a little.

Ashe hadn't emerged unharmed from it either, but she dashed towards the now isolated Jaune. Her semblance proved a useful shield to flames, albeit not perfect. Drawing her bow, she fired 2 arrows behind her, one being blocked by Pyrrha's shield but the second one hit the ground next to her, sending her flying farther away.

She turned back to Jaune but Jaune was already desperate to counter attack, terrified of the huntress going after him.

He swung his sword, and managed to knock her weapon away.

"That's it! Keep her unarmed! You can finish this!" Alice called out victoriously.

Ali, though still murderous, was a little calmer next to her. "You know, Ashe has received a lot of hand to hand training. Almost an unhealthy amount."

Alice faltered. "From you?"

Ali shook her head, gesturing to where Ami was consoling Tyler. "My sister."

Alice felt her stomach drop. "Jaune! Run! You can't beat her unarmed." She changed her mind.

Both of the twins were strong huntresses in their own right. While she often fought with Ali, Ami was one person she refused to fight in hand to hand combat. While she wasn't very powerful from a range, Alice had never seen Ami lose in a fist fight. No Grimm who had met her daggers ever survived. If she had been training Ashe, who may not be a prodigy like she was, Jaune was not prepared. He had learned only the basics of hand to hand, as Grimm weren't very big users of fisticuffs.

Jaune had gotten the message too slow though.

Jaune still hadn't recovered his shield, too distracted by Tyler's exit to move towards it. He swung his sword, but Ashe caught his wrist. Turning, raising and slamming it down onto her shoulder Jaune let out a gasp of pain as he dropped the sword. His wrist was burning in pain, and if he didn't have his aura he was pretty sure his wrist would have just been broken.

Following through, she flipped him over her shoulder. Raising her leg straight up, she slammed it down in a flaming Axe kick.

Barely managing to roll and avoid the kick, he felt her grab his collar.

Ashe ripped him up off the ground, before slamming her fist into his gut. Two kick jabs to his chest, followed by a hook to his chin which left him dazed. She circle stepped around him, hiding behind him as she saw Pyrrha ready her rifle but but she was unable to get a clean shot with Jaune between them.

Ashe's hand began to glow red hot as she glared at Jaune, a murderous look in her eyes.

She placed her hand against his chest plate.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out desperately.

Instantly, the experienced huntresses in the room knew what would happen.

"Ashe!" Glynda scolded raising her crop.

Alice had leaned forward, a pissed off look on her face. Before she could propel herself forward, Ami had appeared in front of her, a hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

Ali herself grabbed one of the crystals hanging around her neck, but Tyler spoke up.

"Ashe! Stop." He called out in a hoarse voice.

Ashe's eyes widened as her thoughts cleared up. The glow on her hand faded significantly before she spun around, throwing Jaune as a massive explosion emitted from her glowing hand.

Jaune rocketed across the arena as the buzzer sounded. He sailed off the platform, but Alice appeared in his path and caught him safely. Glancing up at the screen she saw his aura was still safely in the red. The explosion had been scaled back enough.

Ashe snapped her head back to look at Pyrrha, who was also staring at her.

Pyrrha knew that the situation was dangerous. Both of their aura's were low after this long drawn out fight. But Ashe reminded her of Yang, and she had a feeling even if Ashe was a little more level headed she was still pissed off. Her powers would be peaking at the moment, and she wasn't sure if she could handle her for long. Pyrrha never had explosive force, rather relying on skillful blows to win fights, and as Ashe had seemingly discarded her weapon and was void of metal, her semblance wasn't going to help her out either.

She dashed forward, firing off a few rounds from her rifle to keep her back.

Ashe dodged from side to side as she closed the gap, keeping her arms tucked close. Her right hand glowed as she threw a punch. It connected with Pyrrha's shield, and the explosion sent it flying away.

Pyrrha didn't have time to call it back to her as Ashe kept up her onslaught.

Using her semblance as much as she was was a risk. There was a definite blow-back every time she released a burst of flames from her hands and she was going to feel it tomorrow.

Pyrrha winced as she felt another punch connect to her side. This girl hit very hard.

Knowing the fight was reaching it's climax, Pyrrha knew it would end soon. Both of their aura levels were reaching the end as well.

Separating, they stared each other down. Neither wanted to disappoint their teammates who were watching eagerly from the sidelines.

Ashe clenched her fists as they glowed a bright red.

Pyrrha reached out her hand as she backed up, preparing her last plan.

Ashe rushed forward again, the temperature of the room rising as she prepared for the strike.

At the last moment, Pyrrha stepped around her. As expected, Ashe was ready for that. She spun out with a glowing backhand, it heading straight for Pyrrha's face. At the last moment, it collided with something hard as the explosion rang out, causing her to stumble backwards.

Pyrrha stood, bracing herself behind Jaune's glowing black shield. She had moved it to block Ashe's attack at the last moment. Summoning all the strength she had left, she let out a pulse of magnetism as she repelled the shield with all she could.

The shield shot away from her, slamming into Ashe. Off balance, Ashe couldn't properly react and the shield rocketed her backwards, sending her sliding off the edge of the platform.

As she hit the floor the buzzer rang out.

"Match over! Victory goes to Jaune and Pyrrha!" Glynda announced.

Ashe stood up from the ground, in shock. She had lost. She began to walk around the arena, but soon Tyler met her halfway.

She stared at him through frustrated tears, disappointed she couldn't finish up the victory. Tyler just smiled and pulled her into a tight hug, wallowing in a similar frustration. Still, it had just been a practice match.

The audience erupted into cheers and applause. Both Tyler and Ashe started clapping for Jaune and Pyrrha who were both now up on the stage, smiling. After a moment they turned to their opponents and called them back up on the stage with them. "Great fight. That was very close." Pyrrha offered, clapping for them as they joined them up there.

"Thanks for letting me live my dream of fighting as a huntsmen." Jaune said a bit nervously.

Ashe sighed and rolled her eyes, her tail flicking behind her. "You two are too nice to stay mad at."

Tyler just smiled and fist bumped Jaune.

Glynda smiled despite herself and addressed everyone. "With that, classes are officially done. You all are free until the festival, I suggest you begin making sure you have everything prepared, reflect on what you learned today, and rest up. Dismissed!" She said, turning back to the quartet. "That was certainly an interesting match to end the day on. I'm glad that none of you were seriously injured. Now then, please clear the stage so we can return this room to normal." She said, shooing them away.

The group made their way to the rest of team RWBY and JNPR as Glynda began to clean up the stage.

"That was amazing!" Ruby gushed. "You were all so cool! First Tyler was like 'FWOOSH' and everything was frozen. But then Jaune was like 'AUGH' and broke the ice."

Next to her Nora was grinning. "But Pyrrha was the coolest. When she was dodging the arrows?"

Yang walked over, throwing an arm over Jaune's shoulder. "It seems my fellow blondie has really grown. You were holding your own out there."

Jaune just stammered. "Pyrrha did most of the work. I just tried to survive."

"You did great." Ashe said, her tail suddenly lowering. "I'm sorry I kinda lost it there. I don't like seeing Tyler disappointed like that." She muttered, her tail wrapping around Tyler's leg as he grabbed her hand. "I didn't mean to almost hurt you. Honest."

Jaune shook his head. "It's okay. I'm sorry all the students were like that. I thought you guys were scary as hell up there."

Ashe just laughed, letting out a sigh of relief that he wasn't mad. She really hadn't want to hurt her friend, she can just get a little ahead of herself in fights.

Soon the group of students had started dissecting the match, bickering about who did what.

Jaune tugged on Pyrrha's hand. "Can you follow me for a second?" He whispered to her.

Nodding curiously, Pyrrha excused them from the group and moved off to the side a little. "What is it Jaune? I thought you fought admirably."

Jaune just stared at her, a complex series of emotions crossing his face.

"Jaune? If something is wrong you can talk to me you know."

"Pyrrha." Jaune started out. He took a deep breath. "Pyrrha, would you go out with me tomorrow night?" He said, staring at her nervously. "As my girlfriend."

Pyrrha just stared at him in utter shock. So they were going to be a couple? She had kinda hoped they were, but neither of them seemed to be willing to ask if it was official.

Her pause made Jaune's heart race. "I mean, I know it's bad timing you have the festival in a few days. You should be with your team. I just thought that maybe... er... so-" He was cut off as Pyrrha slammed into him. He felt her lips press against his as she kissed him.

This had effectively cut off all conversation from their friends as they turned to stare at the pair with a range of expressions from scandalized to amused. Yang let out a wolf whistle and Jane was fervently taking pictures.

Ashe leaned over to Tyler. "I feel like they're just rubbing it in now." She muttered, her tail anxiously behind her. She turned her head when she didn't get a response from him, surprised when she suddenly felt his lips on hers. She melted into the kiss for a moment, before he pulled back, and moved her in front of him, wrapping his arms around her waist possessively.

Ashe just giggled at her boyfriend's antics. She leaned her head back into his shoulder, they could let Arkos have the moment.

Pyrrha realized she had an audience and quickly stepped back, flushed red still. "In case you couldn't tell, I would love to go out with you tomorrow. On a date." She said, embarrassed at her own words.

Pyrrha suddenly staggered as Jane slammed into her from the side, before staggering the other way as Nora slammed into her from the other side.

"It finally happened!" They cheered in unison.

Ren walked over putting his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Congratulations."

Jaune just grinned, blushing slightly.

Soon the older siblings joined the group, mercilessly teasing their respective younger siblings.

"Well we'll have a truce today. Come on, we're taking you all out for lunch." Ali said, glancing over at Alice.

"Yeah so hit the showers. We're leaving in thirty minutes, our treat." Alice said, letting her grudge go with Ali. Today was a day to celebrate, both her brother finally officially getting together with Pyrrha, and all their hard work for the Vytal festival.

The group cheered and moved to go freshen up and change for the surprise treat.

As Pyrrha waved goodbye to Jaune and walked towards the women's showers she couldn't help the smile on her face.

Her heart was soaring, it had finally happened. Jaune and herself were officially a couple. Even if they had already sort of been one, it was out and public. Pyrrha couldn't feel happier, they could be eliminated in the first round of the festival and she'd still be riding high.

Pyrrha couldn't find the words to express how happy she felt about meeting Jaune, and that he ended up becoming such a large part of her life. She knew she would cherish every memory she had made with him so far, and looked forward to making many more with him. Wherever her life lead her, down whatever path may come, she knew she would be fine with it if she could walk it with Jaune.

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Thank you for reading and I apologize for the delay! I entered a rather important art contest mid Februrary that took up a lot of my time. I also was distracted by family birthdays, Breath of the Wild, illness, and literally having to restart my computer from scratch so this past month has been busy and weird for me.

But my schedule has been cleared up so I should be able to crank out the remaining chapters in this story before long. I really am sorry how long this took. I hope it's okay at least. Also, thank you for sticking through my OC's, I promise they wont show up in the rest of the story. I know they can be a bit distracting. Thank you for sticking with this story and every notification of a follow or favorite I get really brightens my day. I would love if you guys could drop a review or two, but I'll keep writing anyway!

As always I hope you have a wonderful freaking fantastic day. Thank you for reading. Cheers! o/


	16. The Actually-A-Date

Sorry for the delay! Important announcement after the chapter! Till then enjoy! :D

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha fidgeted in her seat, hardly able to sit still. She was too eager to get moving, sitting still on a bed was practically torture to her.

"If you don't stop moving, I'm undoing the braid and you can brave the streets on your own." Blake's voice scolded slightly from behind her.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha mumbled an apology, finally settling down. She normally didn't wear a braid herself, so she wasn't the best at doing them. Especially not one she hoped to have stay in all day and still look nice. Nora and Ren weren't much help unfortunately, getting no real practice before. Jane's hair was always kept short and she had no sisters so she had no practice either.

Today was the day of her and Jaune's first "official" date. Which meant, they would be out and around the town most of the day, and since the Vytal festival was only a few days away, many visitors were there, and plenty of people who would be eager to stop and get a photo with _The Pyrrha Nikos_. While it did make her a bit sad to have to hide from her fans today, her focus was solely on enjoying this time with Jaune. Which meant she had to go incognito and be in disguise. She had even messaged Jaune, explaining her fears and told him to bundle up just a little more as well, since some of the photos of their dinner "not-a-date" had been circling around, and after their rather public kiss at the end of yesterday's practice it had come out that she was officially taken. Some of her more hardcore fans could now probably recognize Jaune so it'd be safer for them both to lay low while going out. At least for today.

Seeing as her usual ponytail would be a dead give away, and keeping her hair down would still be easy enough to recognize from old photos of official events, she had opted to go for a braid. Which meant getting help from outside her team given the situation. Ruby wasn't too good at braids either, her hair being too short and Yang's being off limits to practice on. Yang would have been an absolute nightmare with her teasing so she was out, which just left Blake and Weiss. When she had explained the situation, Blake stepped up, mentioning that her past made her a little more than experienced when it came to blending in.

So here she was, wearing a fake pair of glasses with a coat and scarf as Blake put the finishing touches on a long, yet simple braid.

"There." She said after a moment, getting off the bed and stretching her legs. "No one will be able to recognize you." She said, before pausing for a moment. Reaching over, she grabbed one of the hats they had set out and put it on Pyrrha. "Perfect."

Standing up, Pyrrha looked herself over in the mirror. With the fake glasses and hat, it really did seem a bit difficult to recognize her.

Just offering her a simple smile, Blake put her hand on her hip. "Have fun on your date. It's about time." She said with a wink before she left to go back to her own room, thinking about spending the day with a certain blonde.

Pyrrha thanked her as she left, turning to Jane who was just leaning over the back of a chair, a Cheshire grin on her face from ear to ear. "My little Pyrrha is so grown up. Finally going out with Jaune."

Staring at the ground blushing, Pyrrha couldn't come up with anything to say. She only looked up at a flash as she saw Jane holding her scroll up, grinning. "Commemorative photo."

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her scroll, still no messages. "Is he going to be late?" She remarked idly, confused. Jaune was never late, he always messaged her early, usually making sure everything was okay. He was never hesitant about trying to make sure everything was okay and that he wasn't screwing up in some way.

At a knock on the door, she jumped slightly, surprised. Opening it, she saw a familiar pair of blue eyes staring back at her. "Jaune?"

"Uh, hey Pyrrha." He grinned, scratching the back of his head. Pausing, his face turned to a look of confusion. "You wear glasses?"

Pyrrha shook her head as Jane face palmed in the background. "They're fake. Blake said they'd help."

"Oh." Jaune replied smartly.

Fidgeting with the hem of her Jacket, she looked at Jaune with a small smile. "So... ready? I'm surprised you came all the way up here. You could have just texted me, I would have met you at the entrance." She offered.

Unable to meet her eyes, Jaune blushed slightly. "I was uh... a little excited so I thought I'd meet you at the door."

Pyrrha just giggled slightly, amused by his antics. "How did you know what room I was in? You haven't been inside before." She remarked after a moment.

Jaune's eyes shifted to over her other shoulder, still unable to meet her eyes. "I uh... didn't. I snuck in when someone was leaving the dorm, and I was on the elevator before I realized I didn't know your floor."

Across the room Jane dropped her head on the desk, mumbling about someone being both dumb and adorable.

"Luckily Ruby got in the elevator with me. She told me where you guys all were."

Pyrrha nodded. "That's goo- wait. Ruby!?" Her mind raced as she began to connect the dots. "That's bad. If she knows then Ya-" Before she could finish her sentence, she barely had time to react and catch Jaune as she was suddenly shoved into her room.

"Hold up, lover boy." Yang's voice said as she walked in the room, dragging a Ruby behind her who had her heels dug into the floor, clearly trying to stop her sister who just dragged them both in the room.

"Yang! Just leave them alone! You promised to wait till after."

Closing the door, Yang crossed her arms as she stared Jaune down.

"First things first." In a blur, she had pulled out her scroll and snapped a few photos. A few keystrokes, and Pyrrha heard both her and Jane's scroll chime, and heard the buzz of Jaune's.

"Now Jaune, I'm glad you finally got a hint and you and Pyrrha are a thing now. Seriously. It's about time. But she's my friend, and I wanna make sure you treat her right."

Jaune just stared at her, mortified. "I already had to deal with this from my sister."

"What are your plans for Pyrrha?" Yang asked, ignoring her sister who suddenly left the room.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at both the phrasing of the words, and the question. Jaune had told her that he had a plan for the date so she didn't need to worry about it, so she also had no idea what to expect. He had just explained not to expect something fancy like last time so going undercover in casual clothes would be fine.

"What do you mean?" He asked after a moment. "We're just going out on the town."

Yang sighed. "How boring. Are you telling me you haven't planned a special date to woo Pyrrha?"

Stammering, Jaune stood up straight. "Of course I planned it out! I am not going to screw this up!" He said defiantly, a hint of fear in his voice telling Pyrrha just how much he had been stressing about this date. She could practical see him staying up late, going over notes and talking to his sisters. She knew how determined he could be, and the last thing she wanted was him to worry about what was supposed to be a wonderful day between them. Glaring at Yang slightly, she threw her arm protectively around Jaune's waist.

"That's enough teasing, Yang. I'm sure what Jaune has planned will be lovely."

Yang rolled her eyes. "That's cause you guys are in the honeymoon phase. You could fall in a lake and get in a fight and you guys would still call it the 'best date ever'. What I mean is wh-"

Yang was cut off as the door behind her exploded open and two bodies dove through the air, slamming into Yang and pinning her down.

"Run!"

"We can only hold her for so long!"

Ruby and Blake called out desperately as they pinned the blonde brawler down.

Noticing Yang starting to slip free, Jane threw herself on the dog-pile as well. "Run Pyrrha!"

Reacting first, Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's hand and started sprinting down the hallway, dragging him along towards freedom.

"Why is beacon so crazy?!" Jaune asked as they ran.

"I think it's something in the water." Pyrrha offered.

"I love it!" He said after a moment before laughing.

Pyrrha wasn't sure how long they had run for, but they were both a little out of breath as they finally came to a stop, laughing hard as they leaned into each other for support.

Standing up, Jaune finally managed to catch his breath. "I'm not sure sprinting through the campus is the best way to stay inconspicuous."

Pyrrha just shrugged, catching her breath as she made sure her braid was still in place. "Well, at least we made it to the entrance in good time. Ready?" She asked, wrapping her arm around Jaune's as she leaned against him.

Blushing slightly Jaune nodded, before grabbing her hand and holding it tightly as they began to walk towards the airships to get into town. The walk to the airship was quiet. After the chaos of leaving the dorms, and all the busyness in the air due to the festival, they were content just being in each other's presence at the moment.

As they sat in the back of the bus once again, leaning against each other as they watched the world pass by outside, Pyrrha turned her head, resting her chin on his shoulder. "So where _are_ we heading?" She asked curiously. "Where" still wasn't too important to her, she was just happy to be with him, but she had faith that if Jaune put his mind to it, she certainly would enjoy the destination.

Jaune turned to look at her, kissing her nose causing her to giggle. He just smiled, before looking away, the corners of his mouth drooping slightly. "I uh... thought since we're starting so early we have some time before dinner so maybe we could go shopping a bit."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously. Jaune certainly didn't seem like a big shopper, then again being dragged along by his sisters meant he might have acquired a taste for it. It would be the first she heard of it though. Still, noticing he seemed to be worried about her reaction she hummed happily. "Well that sounds lovely. I haven't really been out around the town casually in quite a while. Just what I needed." She offered honestly. She couldn't remember the last time she just spent the day in town without some sort of objective.

She noticed Jaune seemed to relax ever so slightly and just grinned, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. He really seemed stressed about making this date perfect. A frown slowly crept on her face, she didn't want him dealing with this the entire date. Sitting up straight she turned to face him with her body. "Jaune." She spoke firmly.

Turning to her confused, Jaune looked at her nervously. Had he already screwed up? "I'm sorry Pyrrha. I know today can't possibly live up to the fancy dinner my sisters set up, but I really did put a lot of thoug-" He was cut off as Pyrrha just reached up and gently cupped both sides of his face.

"Jaune, listen to me carefully." She said, staring directly into his eyes, making sure he was looking at her. She wasn't the best with expressing herself, but for the sake of his enjoyment of the day she would do what was needed. "I am overjoyed to be out with you today. It isn't a contest comparing now to the dinner we went to. You didn't need a plan for me to enjoy today. We could have just wandered around and I would be happy. Being with you is all I care about today, not what we do or where we go."

Jaune just stared at her, trying to believe her words. He had always heard stories about his sister's boyfriends wooing them with elaborate plots, and any of the girls he had flirted with in the past never seemed interested in just a common blacksmith like he was. He'd dream his whole life about wooing his future girlfriend, and she was telling him not to worry about that?

"If you really want today to be special for me, then try to enjoy it like I am. Nothing makes me happier than see you... _my boyfriend_ smile." She corrected herself, blushing slightly. It was true, they were boyfriend and girlfriend now. "I don't want you needlessly worrying. Let's just live today, okay?" She asked, leaning up and kissing him on his forehead.

Staring back at her for a moment, Jaune felt his earlier worries and fears slowly start to slip away. "O-okay." He said, a smile creeping on his face. "I felt too greedy just being happy around you. I was afraid of being selfish."

Pyrrha chuckled, leaning her forehead against his. "Then I'm as selfish as you are. Let's just be selfish together today."

Jaune just chuckled, finally getting the message. He leaned forward, still slightly hesitating as he asked for permission with his eyes.

Permission Pyrrha was all too eager to grant. Leaning forward she quickly kissed him on the lips.

They kissed for a brief moment, before someone on the ship coughed, causing them both to jump slightly. They finally realized they had had a few audience members to their little touching moment. This caused them both of flush red as Jaune buried his head into her shoulder in embarrassment.

Reaching up, she just pet his head reassuringly as she stared out the window, fighting off her own embarrassment. She heard the knowing chuckle from an elderly couple who just smiled at her before winking.

When the airship had finally landed, they were quick to speed away, eager to leave that situation behind. Pyrrha slowed down after a moment, still unsure of where they were going in the town, but Jaune just grinned and held her hand, leading her along. Smirking, Pyrrha sped up for a moment to match his pace as she wrapped her arm around his, slowing him down just a bit. Judging by the lack of looks she was receiving, her disguise was working.

Jaune got the hint, and slowed his pace and began to offer some small talk. They continued at the leisurely pace, talking about the lunch Alice and Ali had taken them out to the previous day, her plans for the Vytal festival, and his plan to see it with his sister.

When Jaune began to slow his pace, Pyrrha looked around a little confused. This part of the city was a little lesser known to her, she couldn't piece together what their first stop would be. "Jaune?"

Stepping away from her for a moment, he scratched the back of his head. "Well... I was thinking about where you might like to stop and this came into my mind yesterday. It's a bit of a guess though, if you think it's lame we can move on." He offered, gesturing to the building near them.

Finally locating the smaller sign hanging above them she pieced it together. "Heroes and Halfwits?" She read out loud, wracking her brain to think of if she had heard the name before.

"It's uh... a comic shop. I heard about it from a customer once, and I've been going here since I moved here. I love it here, and you mentioned liking X-Ray and Vav so I thought maybe..."

Pyrrha just grinned. "I'm excited." She explained, taking his hand. It was the truth. She had never had much exposure to comics growing up before, but Jane was a bit of a fan of them, Ruby as well so she had learned just a little by being around them. She had even read a comic or two while relaxing at Jaune's shop that he had brought for his breaks. Going into a place like this on her own would have been a little too nerve-wracking for Pyrrha perhaps, but with Jaune she was a little eager to explore this new world.

Letting out a breath of relief, he grabbed her hand and lead her up the small staircase immediately in the doorway, leading them to the little upstairs shop. It was a rather small shop, just a single room with a few bookshelves in the center, a few merchandise racks, but it was lined wall to wall with comics. Waving hello to the girl at the registered, he smiled. "Hey Liz."

"Hey Ja..." Her eyes laser focused on the fact he was holding hands with this strange redhead, gears spinning in her head. "Is that her? DID YOU TWO FINALLY GET TOGETHER?" She asked, slamming her hands down on the counter, leaning over it. "God, finally. You've been talking about her for months." She muttered, collapsing on the counter dramatically. "I was beginning to lose hope."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow as she saw Jaune blush red. "I forgot she works today. Her dad is much calmer." He mumbled.

Pyrrha just giggled, kissing his cheek. Turning to the cashier she smiled. "Nice to meet you, I'm... Py... his girlfriend." She explained with a sheepish smile.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "I know who you are. Though judging by your get up... got it. Nice to meet you!" She paused for a moment. "Since you two are gracing us today on your special day, you get the friends and family discount on any purchases today." She offered, waggling her eyebrows at Jaune who just groaned, but muttered a thanks all the same. He quickly grabbed Pyrrha's hand, pulling her towards the back of the shop, placing a bookshelf between Liz and themselves.

Pyrrha just snickered. "She seems friendly."

Jaune shook his head. "She's great. One of the first people I made friends with here. She likes to get a little... involved in people's lives though. Great cashier but a little nosy." He remarked.

"I can hear you, you know!" She called out.

"That's my point!" Jaune called in reply, earning a giggle from Pyrrha.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he turned to Pyrrha. "Here are the X-Ray and Vav comics, but I recommend just looking around. You may find one you enjoy even more." He said, gesturing to them all.

Pyrrha's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store, looking around at all the options. "There's so many." She muttered, before hesitantly taking a step towards one of the bookshelves and letting her eyes scan over it.

Jaune just grinned, amused by his girlfriend's reaction. He began to find the latest issues of X-Ray and Vav, figuring he'd pick them up while he was here. He had saved his paychecks for a while for this. Every once in a while he looked over, seeing Pyrrha scanning a new comic. He moved over to the figurines, looking for any new ones as he wanted to give Pyrrha time to explore unhindered for a while. He knew she would be the type to feel rushed if he loitered around her, and he wanted her to enjoy exploring the same way he did the first time he came here with Alice.

However, a few minutes later he felt someone tug on his scarf slightly. He turned around, curious. Pyrrha was standing there holding a few comics, looking a bit sheepish. "Have you heard of these?"

Raising an eyebrow he looked at her choice. "Iliad?" He smirked after a moment. "Excellent choice. Alice actually loves that series as well."

"Here, follow me." He said, grabbing her hand and leading her towards one of the corners of the shop. The corner of the shop was just windows, letting them have a view at the busy intersection down below. In front of it were two beanbag chairs, a little lamp between them.

Jaune quickly took a seat in one of the beanbags. "It's the best way to read a comic." He offered.

Grinning, Pyrrha grabbed the other one and slid it over next to his, sitting on it so she could lean against Jaune.

Smiling, they both began to settle in and start reading their own series.

They were content. Pyrrha wished that moment could last forever as they were both lost in their own series, enjoying each other's company as they occasionally showed each other an interest panel or joke, laughing.

Their routine had only been broken up for a moment when Liz had showed up with two cold bottled iced teas, only offering them a wink and telling them to take their time.

Neither Jaune or Pyrrha was sure just how long they had spent like that, leaning into each other and reading comics.

Eventually though, Jaune's scroll buzzed and he checked it, noting the time. "Oh, crap. It's dinner time." He remarked, showing Pyrrha.

She raised an eyebrow. Time had flown by in there, she had trouble believing they had spent so much of the day in the corner.

Standing up, they both groaned slightly as blood rushed back to their limbs. They giggled at each other before fixing up the corner to the way they had found it in the first place. Approaching the front, they had both decided to buy the comics they had read, and Jaune had even grabbed a figurine of the protagonist from the Iliad for Pyrrha as they moved to the front.

Liz was just leaning on the counter, her head in her hand as she stared at them with a warm smile. "You two are honestly adorable." She replied, laughing at their blush as she began to ring them up.

After they both paid, they grabbed their bags, waving goodbye to Liz and promising to return again as they went back out.

They hurried down the street, still hand in hand as Jaune lead them to the restaurant.

"I didn't realize how hungry I had gotten." Jaune offered as his stomach rumbled.

Nodding in agreement, Pyrrha shifted her grip on her bag. "Time sure does seem to pass when you're having fun. So where are we eating?"

"Well... it's not like the last restaurant..." He started off, his voice trailing slightly in concern.

"Jaune..." She warned, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't allowed to go down this path again.

"Right. Well, it's one of my favorite places. I've gone there with my family quite a few times." He offered as they reached the destination. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously.

"A diner?"

Smirking, Jaune just squeezed her hand slightly. "Trust me. The food is absolutely the best here. You can't go wrong with Mel's diner."

"Well, let's go then." She said as they made their way in. It certainly seemed to be a popular place. It was packed, but most of the patrons seemed to be on dates themselves. A bunch of young couples sat at the bar around the chefs, families littering the booths on the edge. "It seems a little busy."

"Jaune!" A voice rang out.

Glancing up, Jaune smiled. "Hey Uncle."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously. "Uncle?"

"Good friend of my dad. He helped us find the place for our shop here in Remnant. He's the line manager here." Jaune explained, sharing a brief hug with the large man.

The man stood in front of them, arms wide with a large gut hanging from him. He let out a hearty laugh. "The arcs are always welcome here. That includes any friends." He said, clasping a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "He let me know what was going on. We got two seats saved just for you." He said, placing a massive hand on the back of each of them and ushering them inside to the bar. Sure enough there were two crudely made placards that read "Arc Date Night."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously. "You seem to have a lot of friends in town."

Jaune just shifted nervously as they set their bags down and each took a seat on the stools.

"My dad and mom just love talking to people. Plus, we're in the business of repairing usually important machines for people. We do a good a job and fixing problems tend to give people good impressions of us."

Pyrrha just nodded, understanding the logic as she looked over her menu. She noticed Jaune was just looking at her smiling.

"Heads up!" Uncle's voice called out as Jaune raised his hands and caught a pen. "You know the drill."

Jaune just smiled sheepishly before grabbing the placard for their "date night". Flipping it over, he began to sign the back of it.

Looking over, Pyrrha saw the signatures of Alice, Bia, and another sister on it.

Noticing she had noticed, he blushed slightly. "It's apparently been a bit of a tradition since we moved here. Uncle insists that on first dates, the Arc kids need to bring their partners here. Says something about judging their quality himself, and wanting credit if things work out as being the place where it all started." Jaune explained.

Pyrrha blushed, finding it her time to fidget. She glanced over at Uncle, who just seemed to be grinning at her with a warm smile.

Jaune just squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, it's just us remember?"

Looking over at him, she felt her heart flutter. The diner was certainly busy. Kids were laughing and loudly talking, people were moving to and from the soda fountain, and an older radio played music loudly. It a clear form of organized chaos, but at the moment none of that seemed to matter to Pyrrha. Everything else except for Jaune seemed to fade from focus as she just stared at the blonde boy smiling warmly at her. She felt love boiling up in her as she leaned forward, giving him a brief kiss, surprising him.

Jaune was caught off guard, but certainly welcome to the idea. It had only lasted a brief moment, before Pyrrha had pulled back and buried herself in her menu, looking over the options to hide her blush. She tried to ignore the booming laugh coming from Uncle.

"Anything is good." Jaune offered after a moment. "I've had everything on the menu, and I've never been disappointed."

Nodding, feeling her blush under control again, Pyrrha closed her menu. "I think I know then."

As if on cue, a bubbly girl seemingly slid into existence next to them. "Ready to order?"

"Hey Kat." Jaune said, flinching slightly as the girl pushed down on his head and ruffled up his hair.

"Jaune! It's taken you so long. I've been waiting forever for this. Alice told me to make sure I was working today, but wouldn't tell me why." She rambled out in a bubbly tone, her smiling never leaving her face.

Glancing over, Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

"Uncle's daughter. Alice's best friend."

"Yup! That's me! Kat! Nice to meet cha, now what do you want cutie?" She asked Pyrrha, leaning down to get a better look. "Hmm... you're pretty. Perhaps a little too pretty for ol' Jaune. How'd he snag you? Did he lie?" She asked, tilting her head.

Pyrrha's mind raced to keep up with the girl's chirps, before she registered what she said. Her expression went from shock to mild annoyance. "Excuse me, but I happen to find Jaune very handsome. He certainly hasn't had to lie about anything to me."

The girl just stared at her for a moment, before cracking up and slapping Pyrrha on the back a few times. "Yup!" She leaned over the counter. "She's a keeper Dad!" She called to uncle, before resting a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder.

"Sorry! We just had to test ya, ya know? Jaune needs a good girl who will stick up for him so he doesn't get pushed around. Glad to see he found one. Now what can I get for you?" She rushed out, pulling a pen from her ponytail as she held up a notepad eagerly.

Pyrrha just stared at her, once again trying to process the girl's quick speech and switching of subjects. "I'll have the double with cheese, and fries please. And a lemonade." She said, conceding and just going with her order.

"Good choice! Jaune?" She chirped out.

"I'll have the d-"

"-Double dog. Chili, cheese, and ketchup. Garlic fries, no wait, normal fries cause you're on a date. Strawberry lemonade. Got it." Kat interrupted.

"...Yeah." He conceded with a sigh, handing her his and Pyrrha's menus. Looking to Pyrrha he smiled sheepishly. "Like I said, we eat here quite a bit."

Pyrrha just giggled, as Kat zoomed away, already taking another order.

Jaune just shook his head. "I swear Kat is the only one who isn't intimidated by Alice and draws out her normal side. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not. Just make sure to never be in the same room as both of them." Jaune relented, dropping his head on the counter.

Pyrrha just comforting pat his back.

Before long, they were both chatting idle again, completely lost in each other's presence. They were content with how things were. They weren't sure how long had passed before their food suddenly slid in front of them, a grinning Kat standing there. "This seems to be going well." Was all she said before she dashed away, already addressing another table.

Pyrrha picked up the burger, looking at it expectantly. She had never really had a burger in a common diner like this. They weren't exactly the healthiest meals one could find, so her parents and team usually tried to sway her from having a lunch at place like this. Looking over, she was about to ask Jaune for advice on how to eat it. She was already feeling a bit nervous about digging in, when she saw him with a hot dog shoved in his mouth, staring at her like a deer in the headlights.

Slowly he took a bite, chewing before he coughed nervously and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "Excuse me." He muttered nervously, wincing as Kat slapped the back of his head as she walked by, muttering about manners.

Pyrrha just shrugged, figuring when in Atlas, do as the Atlasians do. So she went face first into a large bite. Her eyes widened as she turned to Jaune. "Thifh Ifh Guhd." She praised, in awe of the flavors.

After a moment her eyes widened as she became mortified. She quickly wiped her face, as she finished chewing. "I said it's good..." She muttered meekly.

Uncle's booming laugh just sounded from the other side of the counter. "Now that's how you enjoy food! You two are doing it right!" He said with a joyous chortle. He rubbed his belly. "Though I'd be a little careful about how much you enjoy." He said in a jolly tone.

Pyrrha and Jaune just shared a glance, before they both resumed eagerly eating, albeit just a little more dignified.

They found it hard to talk as they both rushed through their food. "We need to bring the rest of the gang here at some point." Pyrrha muttered in joy.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Could we even bribe Weiss to show up here?"

Taking another bite, Pyrrha thought for a moment. "Ruby could convince her." Another few chews. "If not, I hear Blake is pretty good with rope."

This caused Jaune to laugh as he went back to finishing his second hot dog. It wasn't too much longer before they had both quickly devoured their meals.

They resumed chatting about the upcoming tournament, when they looked up at the sound of something sliding on the table next to them. Kat was there grinning as she slid a large milkshake with two straws in between them, before adding a little tray of fries. She merely winked before going back and highfiving her dad.

Jaune just face palmed. "I forgot they did this. Don't worr-" He was cut off as he looked over and saw Pyrrha already sucking on one of the straws, a faint blush coating her cheeks.

Well, he wouldn't want to be leave her alone right?

Jaune took a sip from the other straw, looking at Pyrrha and giggling after a moment. They both jumped at the flash of a camera. Kat was there, posing in front of them with a peace sign and taking a selfie.

"Kat!"

Kat just snickered. "Alice would literally come in here and kill me if I didn't get a picture of you two doing that. Don't worry, I got a normal picture without my selfie too, I just wanted to brag to all your sisters that I get to see you two."

Jaune and Pyrrha just sighed. "Having a large family is rough isn't it?" She offered sympathetically.

"You have no idea." He said after a moment, looking at her somberly before they both broke out into a fit of giggles.

Eventually the giggle-fit settled down and Pyrrha looked at the fries curiously. "Why the fries."

For the first time, Jaune stared at her disappointed. "You're kidding."

"What?" She asked, a bit defensively.

"You've never had fries and a shake before?"

"Um, no?" She squeaked out.

Jaune held out a fry to her. "If this relationship is going to work out, you need to try it." He said in a dead serious tone.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, but grabbed the fry. She watched him grab one himself, and dip it in the shake before popping it in his mouth and smiling. Pyrrha was a bit hesitant, but he was studying her carefully. So she took the plunge. She dipped it in the milkshake before eating it. Her eyes widened yet again. "Oh my God."

"Right?" Jaune offered, grinning.

Pyrrha quickly followed it up with a second fry. And a third. The salt from the fries blended perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate shake, ascending her mouth into heaven.

Jaune grinned as they made quick work of the fries and shake.

Eventually though, they were done and it was starting to get late. They stood up, grabbing their bags as they made their way to the front. They were already bickering about who would pay, when Uncle clasped a large hand on Kat's shoulder.

"Don't insult us! You think we'd make an Arc kid pay on their date?"

Jaune just smiled, wrapping an arm around Pyrrha's shoulders. "Thank you Uncle."

Kat just grinned. "By the way, what's her name? I don't think I was ever told."

Pyrrha and Jaune shared a glance, before Jaune's hand shifted to hers.

"Pyrrha Nikos." He said proudly.

They both stared at him, smiling as if all was good. A moment later it clicked. "Wait! You me-" They were cut off as they saw both Jaune and Pyrrha sprinting away from the store, before they could ask any more questions.

Slowing to a casual walk, they both laughed and swung their arms together. "Why are we always running from someone?" Jaune asked.

"Cause our friends are crazy and nosy." Pyrrha explained, not complaining in the slightest.

Night was starting to creep in as they walked through the streets that still hummed with life. "I suppose we should get you back. You have a busy next few days." Jaune said with a sigh.

Pyrrha nodded. "I suppose so. Plus if you're walking home I don't want you being out too late alone." She added, pausing for a moment. "Not that that means we can't take the slow route."

Jaune smirked. "Then follow me." He said as they turned into the park, to take the pathway that would lead them to an airship station eventually.

They walked through the park night, holding their bags of comics as they leaned into each other, sharing their warmth.

"I really enjoyed tonight." Jaune said after a brief lull in the conversation.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she lead him over to a bench off the side of the path. They sat down as she leaned against him. "Words can't express how lovely this day was for me. I will always remember it and cherish these memories." She spoke honestly, looking up at him.

Jaune smiled. "I agree. You..." He paused, trying to find the right words.

"Before I met you, I felt like I would be stuck in the shop forever. Never amounting to more than a handyman. But since we started training, and every time we talk, I feel like I can do anything. Thank you, Pyrrha. You've really changed my life for the better."

Pyrrha felt her heart swell at his words as she leaned in and kissed him briefly. "I was never able to form any real meaningful connections. But you've done so much for me. You shown me what it's like to fall for someone. What it's like to live as a normal person, if I didn't have these talents and I wasn't forced away from everyone else. You've helped me grow so much as a person Jaune, and I will never be able to express how much that means to me." She replied.

They just stared at each other for a moment before they met their lips together and kissed. Neither of them had any more words they wanted to say as they were content kissing, letting their actions speak louder than their words.

Eventually though, a dog bark from a nearby jogger caused them to separate and rest their foreheads against each other. They were both blushing heavily. "We should get back..."

"Yeah..." Jaune confirmed as they stood up.

Pyrrha clutched Jaune's arm to her as they walked in a content silence.

The airship trip back to the dorms had been quiet as well, only a few small comments made. After their confessions, there wasn't much left they felt needed to be said that night.

Perhaps too soon, they found themselves inside the dorms again. As soon as they reached the floor where Pyrrha lived, they saw Yang appear, grinning from ear to ear.

Pyrrha tensed slightly, preparing for the teasing but Yang just approached them. Her grin turned from playful to warm as she pulled them both into a tight bear-hug.

"I'm so happy for you two." She spoke in a warm motherly tone, not a hint of teasing in it. They just grinned, blushing slightly in return.

She hung back as Jaune walked Pyrrha to her door. Pausing at the door, Pyrrha shifted nervously, her hands fiddling with the bag of goodies she had gotten. "Thank you Jaune, for this lovely night." She spoke after a moment.

Jaune just grinned, scratching the back of his head. "No, thank you Pyrrha." They stared at each other for moment as they leaned in and kissed each other.

After a moment they separated as Jaune took a few steps back. "Get some rest. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the tournament! We'll go out to celebrate when you win."

Pyrrha grinned. "That sounds lovely. Be safe getting home now, okay?"

Jaune saluted. "Promise!" He said before walking away, glancing over his shoulder to get one last glance at his girlfriend that night.

Pyrrha entered her room, and wasn't even surprised by the eager eyes waiting for her. "Not tonight, okay?" She said softly.

They all glanced at each other before sighing. "Okay. Tomorrow then." Jane spoke up, before wrapping Pyrrha in a warm hug. "I'm happy for you."

Pyrrha returned the hug before getting changed into her pajamas. Today had been wonderful. Nothing could compare to it, none of her victories nor awards. She knew she had found both her place in life and her partner. She knew whatever challenges came next, they would tackle them together.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! Sorry for the delay, this chapter was a bit difficult to get out. Now then, this is officially the second to last chapter in the series! I may write an epilogue.

Few reasons for this. Basically, with Jane taking Jaune's place on the team, the tournament matches are going to go as they did in the show. I don't want to write a few chapters of Jaune just saying "Good job Pyrrha!" Kissy kissy and waiting for the next show. Team RWBY was never a large focus in this story, and a lot of volume 3 involved drama between them and their family, so that will be mostly unaddressed. We all know what the climax of the story will be, and I'm sure you all are just eager to see how I have the events transpire. So all of the Vytal festival will be summed up next chapter.

This is going to be a bit difficult, but it was my plan from the beginning. I'm going to try and get the final chapter out soon, but I don't want to rush it and have it end weak. I really do hope you enjoy the final chapter of this story, and my future projects. My next project will either be the Busking!Jaune AU where he's a street musician. That one will have plenty of space for more team RWBY in it, and I may develop a story that follows them as well to explore all 8. Second could be the General!Pyrrha AU which would also end up dragging in team RWBY. But I don't have as clear of a plot planned for that one and I wouldn't start it without one so that may not be the one I end up going with right away. Final option is another story I should be posting a test chapter in a day or two, inspired by some other wonderful fics I've been reading that would be pretty evenly split between all 8 characters in the AU, letting me have a chance to relax from Arkos.

Either way, thank you all for reading so far! I'm truly astounded that I've almost reached 1000 follows. It's insane. Ever review I've gotten has been awesome and helped me keep writing, and I would love to hear your thoughts on what story you think I should flesh out next. On my profile the options so far are between Busking, and Defending Home, with the third option coming soon. You all are freaking awesome and I hope you have a fantastic day!

P.S. Fries and Shakes are freaking amazing and if you dislike them then YOU ARE A HEATHEN! =P


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